ORNITHOGALUM NUTANS. DROOPING STAR OF
BETHLEHEM.
ORN ITH O G A LUM nutans', floribus racemosis, subsecundis, pendulis ; filamentis dilatatis, cohæren-
tibus, altérais majoribus, bicornibus.
ORN ITH O G A LUM nutans. Linn. Sp. PI. p. 441. Hoffm. Germ. p. 119. Roth Germ. ml. 2. p. 395.
JVilld. Sp. PI. ml. 2. p. 125. Jacq. Austr. A 301. Curtis Pot. M ag. t. 269.
H u ll B r it. Bot. ed. 2. p. 312. Decand. Fl. F r. ed. 3. ml. 3. p. 218. Decand.
FI. G all. Syn. p. 163. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 1. p . 365. Alton Hort. Kew. ed. 2.
ml. 2. p . 262. Engl. Bot. t. 1997.
ORN ITH O G A LUM floribus spicatis, senescentibus pendulis, filamentis staminum altérais majoribus,
bicornibus. Hall. Helv'.'n. 1 2 l6 ^ ÿ V
O RN ITH O G A LUM Neapolitanum ; the Starre Flower of Naples. P ark . Parad. p. 138. n. 137. f . 8.
Fr. Jacinthe de Mai.
Class and Order. H EX A N D R IA MONOGYNIA.
[N atural Order. ASPHODELEÆ, Just. B r . L IL IA C EÆ Trib. I I. ASPH O D E L I, Decand.]
Gen . Char. Perianthium sex-partitum, persistens, supra medium patens. Filament a basi dilatata.
Capsula trilocularis. Semina subrotunda, nuda.
B ulbus tunicatus, ovato-oblongus, tunica externa fusca,
rugosa, flbris paucis simplicibus instructa.
Folia pauca, tria ad sex, pedalia et ultra, viridia, basi
pallidiora, flexuoso-erecta, linearia, striata, canali-
culata, dorso convexa, basi apieeque attenuate.
Scapus vix pedalis, erectus, basi solummodo foliis vagi-
natus, cylindraceus.
Flores octo ad decern, racemosi, primum erecti, dein
patentes, demum penduli, pedunculati.
PeduNculi breves, uniflori, bracteati; bracteis solita-
riis, pedunculo multo longioribus, ovato-lanceo-
latis, acuminatis, fere aristatis, pallide fuscis,
margine dilutiore, flori inaperto arete appressis,
demum reflexis.
Perianthium hexaphyllum, foliolis ®qualibus, ovato-
acuminatis, horizontaliter patentibus, post flore-
scentiam iterum conniventibus, extus virescenti-
bus, intus multo pallidioribus, marginibus albis.
Stam in a : Filamenta sex, valde dilatata, albida, marginibus.
in tubum cohferentibus, alterna majora,
apice emarginata, biloba: Anther® in sinu lobo-
rum, oblong®, biloculares, flavescentes : Pollen
minutum, ovatum, vel rotundatum.
Ovarium ovato-rotundatum, trilobatum: Stylus linearis
: Stigma breviter trilobatum, pubescens.
P êRICARPIüM : Capsula ovato-rotundata, corolla persistente
obtecta et stylo terminata, trilocularis,
trivalvis; valvis ovatis, dorso line'a media longi-
tudinali notatis, intus medio septiferis.
Semina marginibus dissepimentorum duplici serie horizontaliter
inserta, Subrotunda, atra, rugosa.
I ntegumentum coriaceo-membranaceum, suberusta-
ceum.
Albumen carnosum, album.
Embryo albuminis basi inclusus, oblongus, parvus, erectus,
strictus, vel l®viter curvatus.
Bulb tunicated, ovato-oblong, the external coat brown,
rough, with a few simple fibres.
Leaves few, from three to six, a foot long and upwards,
green, paler below, flexuoso-erect, linear, striated,
grooved, convex on the back, attenuate at the
base and at the extremity.
Scape scarcely a foot high, erect, at the base only
sheathed by the leaves, cylindrical.
F lowers from eight to ten, at first erect, then patent, at
length pendulous, pedunculate.
Peduncles short, one-flowered, bracteate; hracts solitary,
much. longer than the peduncles, ovato-
lanceolate, acuminate, almost aristate, pale brown,
the margins paler, closely appressed to the u n opened
flower, afterwards reflexed.
Per ianth of six leaves, the leaflets equal, ovato-acu-
minate, horizontally patent, after flowering again
connivent, green without, within much paler, the
margins white. •
Stamens : Filaments six, much dilated, white, the margins
cohering so as to form a tube, alternately
larger, notched at the apex, two-lobed : Anthers
in the sinus of the lobes, oblong, two-celled, yellow
: Pollen minute, ovate, or round.
Ovary between ovate a n d ' round, three-lobed: Style
linear: Stigma shortly three-lobed, pubescent.
Pericarp : Capsule ovato-rotundate, covered by the
persistent corolla and terminated by the style,
three-celled, three-valved; the valves ovate, marked
on the back with a longitudinal line, within
bearing dissepiments in the middle.
Seeds inserted in a double row along the margins of
the dissepiments; roundish, black, rough.
Integument coriaceo-membranaceous, suberusta-
ceous.
Albumen fleshy, white.
Embryo included at the base of the albumen, oblong,
small, erect, straight or slightly curved.
Fig. 1. Stamens. Fig. 2. Anther. Fig. 3. Pollen. Fig. 4. Ovary. Fig. 5. Stigma. Fig. 6. Capsule scarcely
ripe. Fig. 7. The same cut through horizontally. Fig. 8. Capsule quite ripe and bursting open. Fig. 9. Stigma
removed to show the disposition' of the seeds. Fig. 10. Seed. Fig. 11. The same vertically dissected. Fig. 12. The
Embryo removed from it.
This plant is become so completely naturalized in our hedges and orchards, that we do not hesitate in allowing
it a place in the British Flora. The Botanist's Guide first pointed out the propriety of considering it as a plant of
this country, and gave as stations for it, Eaton-ford field, St. Neot’s, Bedfordshire, Sir T. G . Cullum, who likewise
finds it in meadows nearly opposite the chalk-pits in Risby-Gate street, Bury; Middleton, Suffolk, D. E. Davy,
E sq .; and near Framlingham in the same county, where the Rev. Mr. Crabbe says it is frequent in orchards and
churchyards, and about towns and villages. The specimen here figured was found in a sandy lane, far from any
house or garden, at Bramfield near Halesworth, Suffolk, by Mr. Meadows White.
The roots descend deep into the earth; by which, and by a profusion of seeds which succeed the flowers, it increases
abundantly wherever it has once fixed itself. On the Continent, in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany,
this species is common, but it is not considered as an aboriginal native even of those countries. Caspar
Bauhin mentions its being sent from Crete; but the learned author of English Botany assures us that Dr* Sibthorpe
did not meet with it there, nor any where else in Greece.
As a species, this plant cannot be confounded with any other, being remarkable in its large and handsome, nearly
unilateral flowers, which as the fruit swells become drooping, and still more distinct by the dilated filaments alternately
larger, which are united together by their margins into a tube, whence the Linniean expression “ nectario
stamineo campaniformi.”
I t flowers in April and M ay ; and the seeds are quite ripe in June.