Prospero (plant)

Prospero is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (also treated as the family Hyacinthaceae).[2] It is distributed in Europe, around the Mediterranean, and through the Middle East to the Caucasus.[1]

For other uses, see Prospero (disambiguation).

Prospero
Prospero autumnale
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Prospero
Salisb.[1]

Description

Species of Prospero grow from bulbs, the leaves and flowers appearing in the autumn and dying down in spring. The leaves are relatively narrow. Each bulb produces one to four flowering stems (scapes) bearing dense racemes of pink to violet flowers. The 4–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long tepals are not joined together. The stamens have filaments coloured like the tepals and short purple anthers. The dark brown seeds are more-or-less oblong.[3]

Systematics

The genus Prospero was created by Richard Salisbury in 1866. However, some species he placed in the genus, such as P. hyacinthoideum and P. lingulatum, are currently placed in other genera.[4] Franz Speta and co-workers from the 1970s onwards split up the broadly defined genus Scilla, placing many species into separate genera.[5] The modern understanding of Prospero dates from 1982, with Speta's re-assignment of Scilla autumnalis (among other species) to Prospero.[4]

The genus is placed in the tribe Hyacintheae (or the subfamily Hyacinthoideae by those who use the family Hyacinthaceae).[6]

Species

As of April 2013, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognized the following species:[4]

  1. Prospero autumnale (L.) Speta
  2. Prospero battagliae Speta
  3. Prospero corsicum (Boullu) J.-M.Tison
  4. Prospero depressum Speta
  5. Prospero elisae Speta
  6. Prospero fallax (Steinh.) Speta
  7. Prospero hanburyi (Baker) Speta
  8. Prospero hierae C.Brullo
  9. Prospero hierapytnense Speta
  10. Prospero idaeum Speta
  11. Prospero minimum Speta
  12. Prospero obtusifolium (Poir.) Speta
  13. Prospero paratethycum Speta
  14. Prospero rhadamanthi Speta
  15. Prospero talosii (Tzanoud. & Kypr.) Speta

References
  1. "Prospero", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2013-04-08
  2. Stevens, P.F. (2001 onwards), "Asparagales: Scilloideae", Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, retrieved 2014-02-25
  3. "Prospero Salisb.", eMonocot, archived from the original on 2013-07-06, retrieved 2013-04-08
  4. "Search for Prospero", World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, retrieved 2013-04-08
  5. Trávníček, Bohumil; Duchoslav, Martin; Šarhanová, Petra & Šafářová, Lenka (2009), "Squills (Scilla s.lat., Hyacinthaceae) in the flora of the Czech Republic, with taxonomical notes on Central-European squill populations" (PDF), Acta Musei Moraviae, Scientiae biologicae (Brno), 94: 157–205, retrieved 2013-04-09
  6. Pfosser, Martin; Speta, Franz (1999), "Phylogenetics of Hyacinthaceae based on plastid DNA sequences" (PDF), Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 86 (4): 852–875, doi:10.2307/2666172, JSTOR 2666172
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