Plant

Hyacinth

Hyacinthus orientalis

Also known as: Hyacinthus orientalis, common hyacinth

A bulb-forming spring flowering plant in the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), native to a region from Turkey and Syria through Iran. Intensely fragrant — the flower's scent is one of the most distinctive of any spring bulb. Cultivated in Ottoman gardens for centuries before the species' 16th-century arrival in the Netherlands, where Dutch breeding programs produced thousands of named cultivars. The 1730s Dutch hyacinth mania — a smaller-scale parallel to the earlier 1630s Tulip Mania — is one of the lesser-known speculative-bubble episodes in early modern economic history.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons — see source for license.

Scientific

Hyacinthus orientalis (family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae). The bulb produces a single flowering stem each spring with dozens of small starry flowers tightly clustered into a dense spike. The flowers are intensely fragrant — the dominant compounds (cinnamic acid esters and other phenylpropanoids) give hyacinth one of the most-recognizable spring-garden scents.

Grape hyacinths (Muscari) and water hyacinths ([[water-hyacinth|Eichhornia crassipes]] / [[water-hyacinth|Pontederia crassipes]]) are unrelated plants sharing the common name through visual or olfactory resemblance.

Cultural and historical

Ottoman garden tradition cultivated hyacinths extensively before the species entered European horticulture. Turkish poet [[rumi|Mevlana]] Rumi mentions hyacinths in his 13th-century verse. The species reached Vienna in 1554 via Ottoman diplomatic contact, then spread through northern European gardens by the late 16th century.

Dutch breeding work transformed the species into a major commercial ornamental. By the 1730s the Dutch hyacinth market was experiencing a speculative bubble — rare new cultivars were trading for prices comparable to houses, much like the more-famous 1630s Tulip Mania. The hyacinth bubble collapsed around 1737, with similar (if smaller-scale) economic consequences for over-leveraged speculators.

Greek myth places the hyacinth at the death of the youth Hyakinthos — accidentally killed by Apollo with a discus; Apollo transformed his blood into the spring flower. The myth was probably attached to a different species (possibly [[larkspur|larkspur]] or a wild Mediterranean iris) than the modern garden hyacinth; the name was carried forward when the Hyacinthus orientalis of Ottoman gardens entered European horticulture.

Modern industry

The Netherlands remains the dominant producer of hyacinth bulbs; the Lisse and Bollenstreek bulb-growing regions produce most of the world’s commercial supply. Spring bulb-display gardens at Keukenhof attract millions of visitors annually during the April–May bloom season.

Sources

Wikipedia — Hyacinth (plant)

A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].

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General