ORNITHOGALUM LUTEUM. YELLOW STAR OF
BETHLEHEM.
O RN ITH O G A LUM luteum ; caule anguloso superne diphyllo, pedunculis umbellatis simplicibus, pe-
rianthii foliolis lanceolatis obtusis.
O RN ITH O G A LUM luteum. Linn. Sp. P L p . 439- Buds. A n si. p. 143. L ig h t f Scot. p. 180.
Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . I. p. 159. TVilld. Sp. PI. ml. 2. p. 1 ] 3. With.
Bot. A r r . ed. 4. ml. 2. p . 329. Smith Fl. B r it. p . 362. Engl. Bot. t. 21.'
(Ed. Fl. Dan. t. 378. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 3. p. 214. Ft. Gall. Syn.
p. 162. Pers. Syn. P i. ml. 1. 0. 363. Aiton Hort. K m . ed. 2. ml. 2. o 257*
Hook. Fl. Scot. P . I. p. 102. 1
GAGEA lutea. Salisb. in A nn. o f Bot. ml. 2. p. 555. K e r r in Bot. Mag. t. 1200.
PH A LA N G IUM radice bulbosa, stipulis maximis hirsutis, floribus umbellatis, petiolis unifloris. Hall
Helv. n. 1213 .
ORN ITH O G A LUM luteum. Yellow Star of Bethlehem. R aii S y n .p . 372.
Dan. Fuglemelk. Dut. Geel Vogelmelk. Fr. Bbtoile jaune. Germ. Die gelbe Vogelmilch.
Hung. Madkr Lillom. Pol. Sniedek. Swed. Wässerdagslök.
Class a n d Order. H EX A N D R IA MON O G Y N IA .
[N atural Order. A S PH O D E L E jE , Juss., Brown, Hook.]
Ge n . Char. Perianthium sexpartitum, inferum; filamenta basi dilatata. Capsula trilocularis. Semina subrotunda,
nuda.
Gen . Char. Perianth six-partite, inferior; filaments dilated a t the base. Capsule three-celled. Seeds roundish,
naked.
Bulbus minutus, ovatus, pallide fuscus, tunicatus, basi
fibrosus.
Caulis palmaris vel spithamæus, ereetus, fiexuosus,
angulatus.
Folia radicalia solitaria, caule plerumque longiora, in-
fernè caulem vaginantia, caulina bina ad basin
pedicellorum approximata, brevia, basi ciliata ;
omnia lanceolata.
Flores terminales, très ad quatuor, subumbellati,longius
pedicellati, pedicellis triquetris.
Perianthium simplex, subpetaloideum ; Foliola sex,
subpatentia, lanceolata, obtusa, extus carinata,
viridia, marginibus flavis, intus omnino flava sub- I
striata.
Stamina sex ; Filamenta subulata, basi vix dilatata ;
Antheræ oblongoe, flavæ.
Pistillum stamihibus subæque longum ; Germenova-
tum, trigonum ; Stylus longiusculus, filiformis;
Stigma planum, margihe ciliatum.
Capsula trilocularis, polysperma.
! Bulb minute, ovate, pale brown, coated, fibrous at the
base.
Stem a palm’s length or a span high, erect, flexuose,
angulate.
Radical Leaves solitary, generally longer than the
stem; cauline ones two at the base o f the pedicels,
approximate, short, ciliated at the base; all
of them lanceolate.
Flowers terminal, three or four, forming a kind of
umbel, upon long pedicels, which are triquetrous.
Perianth simple, subpetaloid; Leaflets six, subpatent,
lanceolate, obtuse, keeled externally, green, with
the margins yellow, within altogether yellow and
somewhat striated.
Stamens six; Filaments subulate, scarcely dilated a t
the base; Anthers oblong, yellow.
Pistil about as long as the stamens ; Germen ovate,
trigonous; Style rather long, filiform; Stigma
plane, ciliated a t the margin.
Capsule three-celled, many-seeded.
versely to show the situation of the seeds.—all more or less magnified.
An elegant vernal plant; expanding its yellow blossoms as early as the month of March, if the season be fair.
I t is not a very rare inhabitant of woods and pastures, many stations o f it being given in the Botanist’s Guide and
m the time of Ray it was known to be found in woods by the side of the Tees near Greta Bridge, Yorkshire* and
also in Westmorland. Sibbald speaks of the Yellow Star of Bethlehem as a native of Scotch woods, as if it were
common there, and Messrs. Maughan, Shillinglaw and D. Don, have met with.it in different and distant parts of
that country. The south of England also produces it, it having been found in Oxfordshire by Sir Jos. Banks and
in Berkshire by J. E. Bicheno, Esq. to the latter of whom I am indebted for fresh living specimens. ' ’
Mr. Salisbury, in the second volume of the Annals of Botany, has removed this species, with some foreign ones
allied to it, from the genus Ornithogalum-, and has dedicated them to perpetuate the name of Sir Thomas Gaoe ■
an excellent botanist, whose recent death in Italy will have been deeply lamented by all who had the honour to
know him, and by whom no such memento of his amiable qualities can be wanted.
Gagea differs from Ornithogalum principally in its inflorescence, or the presence of the floral-leaves which Mr.
Salisbury hence calls bractere, and in the petals, which do not decay immediately after the flowerin'* of the plant
but remain bleaching in the air. ■ 1 ’
Linnasus tells us that the bulbs of this plant, small as they are, are eaten by the poor of Sweden durin«* times
of scarci ty : the correctness of this statement, or wholesomeness of these roots, might seem doubtful (as*we are
informed by a German author, Sturm, that the water in which they have been boiled induces vomiting), if it were
not a well known fact, that many of the tuberous roots which are used as food by the human species, are only rendered
harmless by means of boiling, and that the water which has been employed for this purpose is eminently unwholesome.
In the instance o f the Cassava, which is prepared from the tubes o f the Jatropha M anihot, and which
forms the chief maintenance ot the negroes in the sugar islands, as well as of many other tropical nations, the water
in which the roots have been boiled, is one of the most deadly of poisons.
Sturm also mentions that the expressed juice of the roots of this plant is beneficial to children in convulsions
and that roasted in ashes and mixed with honey, the bulbs are useful in healing sores.