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Hyacinthus(hīəsĭn`thəs), in Greek mythology, beautiful youth loved by Apollo. He was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by the god. According to another legend, the wind god Zephyr, out of jealousy, blew the discus to kill Hyacinth. From his blood sprang a flower which was named for him.
hyacinth,any plant of the genus Hyacinthus, bulbous herbs of the family Liliaceae (lilylily,
common name for the Liliaceae, a plant family numbering several thousand species of as many as 300 genera, widely distributed over the earth and particularly abundant in warm temperate and tropical regions.
..... Click the link for more information. family) native to the Mediterranean region and South Africa. The common, or Dutch, hyacinth of house and garden culture (derived from H. orientalis of the NE Mediterranean) became so popular in the 18th cent. that 2,000 kinds were said to be in cultivation in Holland, the chief commercial producer. This hyacinth has a single dense spike of fragrant flowers in shades of red, blue, white, or yellow. A variety of the common hyacinth is the less hardy and smaller blue- or white-flowered Roman hyacinth (var. albulus) of florists. The flower of the Greek youth HyacinthHyacinth
, in Greek mythology, beautiful youth loved by Apollo. He was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by the god. According to another legend, the wind god Zephyr, out of jealousy, blew the discus to kill Hyacinth.
..... Click the link for more information. has been identified with a number of plants (e.g., iris) other than the true hyacinth. The related grape hyacinths (Muscari), sometimes called baby's-breath, are very low, mostly blue-flowered herbs similar in appearance to hyacinths and also commonly cultivated. Types of brodieabrodiea
, any plant of the genus Brodiaea, herbs of the family Liliaceae (lily family), with narrow leaves and blue or purple star-shaped flowers. The many North American species include the golden brodiea (B.
..... Click the link for more information. , camasscamass
, any species of the genus Camassia (or Quamasia), hardy North American plants of the family Lilaceae (lily family), chiefly of moist places in the far West, where their abundance has given rise to various place names.
..... Click the link for more information. , squillsquill,
common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla,
..... Click the link for more information. , and other lily-family plants with flower clusters borne along the stalk are also called hyacinth. Hyacinths are classified in the division MagnoliophytaMagnoliophyta
, division of the plant kingdom consisting of those organisms commonly called the flowering plants, or angiosperms. The angiosperms have leaves, stems, and roots, and vascular, or conducting, tissue (xylem and phloem).
..... Click the link for more information. , class Liliopsida, order Liliales, family Liliaceae.
1. any liliaceous plant of the Mediterranean genus Hyacinthus, esp any cultivated variety of H. orientalis, having a thick flower stalk bearing white, blue, or pink fragrant flowers
2. the flower or bulb of such a plant
3. any similar or related plant, such as the grape hyacinth
4. a red or reddish-brown transparent variety of the mineral zircon, used as a gemstone
5. Greek myth a flower which sprang from the blood of the dead Hyacinthus
6. any of the varying colours of the hyacinth flower or stone