View source for Star of Bethlehem

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Ornithogalum (Greek, bird and milk; application not obvious). Liliaceae. This genus includes the star of Bethlehem, a dwarf hardy bulbous plant that bears umbels of green-and-white flowers in May and June; also many other outdoor and indoor bulbs.

Bulb coated, giving rise to linear or very narrow Lvs. and a simple leafless scape: fls. white, yellowish or reddish, mostly racemose; perianth persistent; tube none; segms. 6, usually spreading; stamens 6, the filaments more or less flattened and in many species unequal, alternate ones being broader at the base; ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules many in a cell, superposed; style short or long: caps, membranous, loculicidally 3-valved; seeds globose, usually not crowded nor compressed: often the perianth-segms. are keeled and the green color follows the keel.—Probably more than 100 species, widely spread mostly in the eastern hemisphere. They are particularly numerous in S. Afr. Blue and mauve-purple does not occur in the fls. of this genus, according to Baker.

Horticulturally, ornithogalums may be divided into hardy and tender groups, and each of these may be subdivided into dwarf and tall. The hardy kinds are considered by English amateurs amongst the choicest summer-blooming bulbs for wild gardening. With the remarkable increase of wild gardens in America, the popularity of these bulbs is likely to increase with us. The common star of Bethlehem, O. umbellatum, a dwarf kind, is the only ornithogalum that is common in American gardens. O. nutans has escaped from a few premises; in England "it is a very popular species and one of the most easily managed of all the ornithogalums. In borders amongst other named bulbs, however, it becomes a great nuisance, on account of the freedom with which its innumerable bulbils are formed. In a semi-wild or uncultivated spot it is a capital subject for groundwork; it requires no attention whatever, and flowers freely all through April and May." Of the taller hardy kinds O. latifolium and O. pyramidale seem to be the most desirable. These may be; placed among shrubbery and left undisturbed. A particularly robust clump of O. lalifolium is recorded as bearing over one hundred spikes of flowers on stalks 3 feet high. O. pyramidale sometimes makes a perfect pyramid of starry white flowers, the spike 12 to 18 inches long, the flowers an inch across, and a hundred or more flowers in a spike.

The tender kinds in cultivation are chiefly from the Cape of Good Hope, although O. arabicum is found in the Mediterranean region. When well grown, the latter is probably the showiest of the genus. The white of the large broad-petaled flowers is set off by a gleaming black pistil, which makes a striking feature. O. arabicum is suitable for pot culture in northern conservatories, but perhaps the best way to grow it is in quantity in a frame. The bulbs have a way of remaining dormant for a season or two, a difficulty possibly to be associated with insufficient ripening. It is suspected that there are two varieties, a shy-blooming and a free- blooming kind. This may explain some of its reputation for capriciousness. O. thyrsoides is easier to grow and earlier to bloom. With gentle forcing it may be had for Christmas in a moderately warm house. O. revolutum is very distinct in having revolute instead of spreading segments. O. caudatum is cultivated in dwelling houses under the erroneous name of sea onion. The sea onion is Urginea maritima, a plant of the same general appearance but distinguishable in leaf, flower and fruit as follows: Urginea maritima has leaves 2 to 3 inches wide: raceme 1½ to 2 feet long: bracts 3 to 4 lines long: flowers white with a brown keel: seeds crowded, disk-like. Ornithogalum caudatum has leaves 1 to 1½ inches wide; raceme ½ to 1 foot long: bracts 6 to 9 lines long: flowers keeled with green: seeds not crowded nor compressed. The ornithogalums are increased naturally by the new bulbs. In general, they are plants of easy culture.
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==Gallery==

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==References==
<references/>
*[[Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture]], by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
<!--- xxxxx  *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432  -->
<!--- xxxxx  *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608  -->

==External links==
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