Bellevalia

Bellevalia
Bellevalia nivalis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Asparagaceae
Subfamily: Scilloideae
Genus: Bellevalia
Lapeyr. 1808, conserved name, not Scop. 1777 (Verbenaceae) nor Delile Endl. 1836 (Potamogetonaceae)
Synonyms
  • Amphibolis Schott & Kotschy in C.G.T.Kotschy. 1858, illegitimate homonym, not C. Agardh 1822
  • Borboya Raf.
  • Busbequia Salisb.
  • Foxia Parl.
  • Rytidolobus Dulac
  • Strangweja Bertol.

Bellevalia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. It was first described as a genus in 1808.

Wild Bellevalia in Behbahan, Iran
Wild Bellevalia in Behbahan

It includes 81 species native to the Mediterranean Basin of North Africa, southern Europe, and Western Asia, as well as Ukraine, southern European Russia, the Caucasus, and western and Central Asia as far as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan.

Description

Bellevalia species are perennial herbaceous plants. As geophytes, they form bulbs with a membranous sheath ("tunic"). The simple, parallel-veined leaves are basal. Grape-like inflorescences grow terminally on smooth cylindrical flower stems. The numerous flowers are located in the axils of small, membranous bracts. The hermaphroditic flowers are triple. The six identically shaped bracts are one-third to one-half their length and deformed tubular, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped in form. The color of the bracts ranges from white to cream to brown or more rarely from blue to purple. The fruit capsule is triangular in cross section with winged edges. The seeds are more or less spherical, rarely elongated and glossy.

Taxonomy

Wild Bellevalia in Behbahan II
Wild Bellevalia in Behbahan

The genus Bellevalia was first described in 1808 by Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse. The genus name honors the French botanist Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564-1632). A synonym for Bellevalia is Strangweja Bertol. The homonym genus Bellevalia Roem. & Schult. is a synonym of the genus Richeria Vahl from the family Phyllanthaceae.

Some species formerly belonged to the genus Hyacinthus. The genus Bellevalia is placed in the tribe Hyacintheae in the subfamily Scilloideae within the family Asparagaceae.

Species

81 species are accepted.

  1. Bellevalia anatolica B.Mathew & Özhatay
  2. Bellevalia assadii Wendelbo
  3. Bellevalia aucheri (Baker) Losinsk.
  4. Bellevalia bayburtensis Sefali & Yıldırım
  5. Bellevalia behcetii Pinar, Eroglu & Fidan
  6. Bellevalia brevipedicellata Turrill
  7. Bellevalia chrisii Yıldırım & B.Sahin
  8. Bellevalia ciliata (Cirillo) T.Nees
  9. Bellevalia clusiana Griseb.
  10. Bellevalia crassa Wendelbo
  11. Bellevalia cyanopoda Wendelbo
  12. Bellevalia cyrenaica Maire & Weiller
  13. Bellevalia decolorans Bornm.
  14. Bellevalia densiflora Boiss.
  15. Bellevalia desertorum Eig & Feinbrun
  16. Bellevalia douinii Pabot & Mouterde
  17. Bellevalia dubia (Guss.) Schult. & Schult.f.
  18. Bellevalia edirnensis Özhatay & B.Mathew
  19. Bellevalia eigii Feinbrun
  20. Bellevalia feinbruniae Freitag & Wendelbo
  21. Bellevalia flexuosa Boiss.
  22. Bellevalia fominii Woronow
  23. Bellevalia galitensis Bocchieri & Mossa
  24. Bellevalia glauca (Lindl.) Kunth
  25. Bellevalia gracilis Feinbrun
  26. Bellevalia guneriana Tugay & Armağan
  27. Bellevalia hakkariensis Fırat
  28. Bellevalia hermonis Mouterde
  29. Bellevalia heweri Wendelbo
  30. Bellevalia hyacinthoides (Bertol.) K.Perss. & Wendelbo
  31. Bellevalia juliana Bareka, Turland & Kamari
  32. Bellevalia koeiei Rech.f.
  33. Bellevalia konyaensis Tugay & Ulukuş
  34. Bellevalia koyuncui Karabacak & Yıldırım
  35. Bellevalia kurdica Fırat
  36. Bellevalia kurdistanica Feinbrun
  37. Bellevalia leucantha K.Perss.
  38. Bellevalia longipes Post
  39. Bellevalia longistyla (Miscz.) Grossh.
  40. Bellevalia lypskyi (Miscz.) Wulff.
  41. Bellevalia macrobotrys Boiss.
  42. Bellevalia malatyaensis Uzunh. & H.Duman
  43. Bellevalia mathewii Özhatay & Koçak
  44. Bellevalia mauritanica Pomel
  45. Bellevalia modesta Wendelbo
  46. Bellevalia montana (K.Koch) Boiss., syns Bellevalia albana Woronow, Bellevalia makuensis Woronow ex Grossh., Bellevalia wilhelmsii (Steven) Woronow
  47. Bellevalia mosheovii Feinbrun
  48. Bellevalia multicolor Wendelbo
  49. Bellevalia nivalis Boiss. & Kotschy
  50. Bellevalia olivieri (Baker) Wendelbo, syn. Bellevalia latifolia Feinbrun
  51. Bellevalia palmyrensis Feinbrun
  52. Bellevalia paradoxa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Boiss., syn. Bellevalia pycnantha (K.Koch) Losinsk.
  53. Bellevalia parva Wendelbo
  54. Bellevalia pseudofominii Özhatay & E.Kaya
  55. Bellevalia pseudolongipes Karabacak & Yıldırım
  56. Bellevalia rixii Wendelbo
  57. Bellevalia romana (L.) Sweet
  58. Bellevalia salah-eidii Täckh. & Boulos
  59. Bellevalia sasonii Fidan
  60. Bellevalia saviczii Woronow
  61. Bellevalia sessiliflora (Viv.) Kunth
  62. Bellevalia shiraziana Parsa
  63. Bellevalia siirtensis Firat
  64. Bellevalia sirnakensis (Yıld.) Yıld.
  65. Bellevalia sitiaca Kypriotakis & Tzanoud.
  66. Bellevalia speciosa Woronow ex Grossh., syn. Bellevalia sarmatica (Pall. ex Georgi) Woronow
  67. Bellevalia spicata (Raf.) Boiss.
  68. Bellevalia stepporum Feinbrun
  69. Bellevalia tabriziana Turrill
  70. Bellevalia tauri Feinbrun
  71. Bellevalia trifoliata (Ten.) Kunth
  72. Bellevalia tristis Bornm.
  73. Bellevalia turcica Pınar & Eroğlu
  74. Bellevalia turkestanica Franch., syn. Bellevalia atroviolacea Regel
  75. Bellevalia undulatifolia Özhatay, Gürdal & E.Kaya
  76. Bellevalia validicarpa Ponert
  77. Bellevalia vuralii B.Sahin & Aslan
  78. Bellevalia warburgii Feinbrun
  79. Bellevalia webbiana Parl.
  80. Bellevalia wendelboi Maassoumi & Jafari
  81. Bellevalia zoharyi Feinbrun

Recently described species include:

Species formerly included

moved to Alrawia, Althenia, Hyacinthella, and Muscari

  1. B. aleppica - Hyacinthella nervosa
  2. B. aperta - Muscari armeniacum
  3. B. atchleyi - Hyacinthella leucophaea subsp. atchleyi
  4. B. australis - Althenia filiformis var. barrandonii
  5. B. azurea - Muscari azureum
  6. B. bellii - Alrawia bellii
  7. B. bouriana - Muscari comosum
  8. B. calandriniana - Muscari comosum
  9. B. caucasica - Muscari caucasicum
  10. B. coelestis - Muscari coeleste
  11. B. coerulea - Pseudomuscari coeruleum
  12. B. comosa - Muscari comosum
  13. B. cupaniana - Muscari gussonei
  14. B. dalmatica - Hyacinthella dalmatica
  15. B. dichroa - Alrawia bellii
  16. B. fontanesii - Muscari maritimum
  17. B. forniculata - Muscari forniculatum
  18. B. fuliginosa - Muscari fuliginosum
  19. B. graeca - Muscari comosum
  20. B. graminifolia - Muscari comosum
  21. B. haynei - Hyacinthella nervosa
  22. B. heldreichii - Hyacinthella heldreichii
  23. B. hispida - Hyacinthella hispida
  24. B. holzmannii - Muscari comosum
  25. B. leucophaea - Hyacinthella leucophaea
  26. B. lineata - Hyacinthella lineata
  27. B. longipes (Boiss.) Bornm. 1939 not Post 1895 - Muscari longipes
  28. B. maritima - Muscari maritimum
  29. B. maritima subsp. weissii - Muscari weissii
  30. B. micrantha - Hyacinthella micrantha
  31. B. millingenii - Hyacinthella millingenii
  32. B. monophylla - Muscari latifolium
  33. B. muscarioides - Muscari latifolium
  34. B. nervosa - Hyacinthella nervosa
  35. B. oxycarpa - Alrawia bellii
  36. B. pallens - Muscari pallens
  37. B. persica - Hyacinthella persica
  38. B. pharmacusana - Muscari comosum
  39. B. pinardii - Muscari comosum
  40. B. pseudomuscari - Muscari pseudomuscari
  41. B. sartoriana - Muscari comosum
  42. B. tenuiflora - Muscari tenuiflora
  43. B. tenuiflora subsp. constricta - Muscari comosum
  44. B. theraea - Muscari weissii
  45. B. turkewiczii - Muscari coeleste
  46. B. weissii - Muscari weissii

References

  1. ↑ Tropicos, search for name Bellevalia
  2. 1 2 3 "Bellevalia Lapeyr". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 3 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Stevens, P.F., Angiosperm Phylogeny Website: Asparagales: Scilloideae
  4. ↑ Lapeyrouse, Philippe Picot de. 1808. Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d'Histoire Naturelle et des Arts 67: 425-427 in French
  5. ↑ Tropicos, Bellevalia Lapeyr.
  6. ↑ Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse: Bellevalia. Nouveau genre de plante de la famille des Liliacées. In: Journal de Physique, de Chimie et d'Histoire Naturelle. Band 67, Nr. 12, 1808, p. 425–427
  7. ↑ Sandro Pignatti (Hrsg.): Flora d'Italia. Vol. 1–3, Edagricole, Bologna 1982 (Nachdruck 2002), ISBN 88-506-2449-2, S. 374 (Band 3).
  8. ↑ Ali̇Pour, Sajad; Maji̇Di̇, Rami̇Ar; Eker, İSmai̇L (2025-04-15). "Bellevalia iranica (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from Iran". Phytotaxa. 697 (2): 213–218. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.697.2.7. ISSN 1179-3163.
  9. ↑ R. Govaerts, B. J. M. Zonneveld, S. A. Zona: World checklist of Asparagaceae. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Search on Bellevalia Access date 8 July 2014

Bibliography