The use of "muscari" as part of the name of at least some of the species included in the modern genus can be traced back to Carolus Clusius in 1601, long before the modern rules of botanical nomenclature were established. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus used the name "Hyacinthus muscari" for the plant now called "Muscari racemosum". In 1754, Philip Miller formally established the genus "Muscari" according to modern rules of nomenclature. The name "muscari" comes from the Greek "muschos", musk, referring to the scent.