Jane McGary wrote: "Presumably it honors an acquaintance Belleval of the original describer of the genus, Lapeyrouse. (I suppose the first species to be described was B. romana.) The species epithet means 'small-arched' (fornicatus 'arched, vaulted', and the -ul- is the diminutive) and must refer to the shape of the flower." Pierre Richer de Belleval (1564-1632) founded the Montpellier Botanic Garden in 1593. For a while at least, Bellevalia were put into Hyacinthus, but have been separated out again. Regards Hamish