Prospero (plant)


Prospero is a genus of bulbous flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It is distributed in Europe, around the Mediterranean, and through the Middle East to the Caucasus.

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 bearing dense racemes of pink to violet flowers. The 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.

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. Franz Speta and co-workers from the 1970s onwards split up the broadly defined genus Scilla, placing many species into separate genera. The modern understanding of Prospero dates from 1982, with Speta's re-assignment of Scilla autumnalis to Prospero.
The genus is placed in the tribe Hyacintheae.

Species

, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families recognized the following species:
  1. Prospero autumnale Speta
  2. Prospero battagliae Speta
  3. Prospero corsicum J.-M.Tison
  4. Prospero depressum Speta
  5. Prospero elisae Speta
  6. Prospero fallax Speta
  7. Prospero hanburyi Speta
  8. Prospero hierae C.Brullo
  9. Prospero hierapytnense Speta
  10. Prospero idaeum Speta
  11. Prospero minimum Speta
  12. Prospero obtusifolium Speta
  13. Prospero paratethycum Speta
  14. Prospero rhadamanthi Speta
  15. Prospero talosii Speta