[1] Species of Prospero grow from bulbs, the leaves and flowers appearing in the autumn and dying down in spring.

The stamens have filaments coloured like the tepals and short purple anthers.

[4] Franz Speta and co-workers from the 1970s onwards split up the broadly defined genus Scilla, placing many species into separate genera.

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

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