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 (Eichhornia crassipes / 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 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 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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