ORNITHOGALUM UMBELLATÜM.
OF BETHLEHEM.
COMMON STAR
ORN ITH O G A LUM umlellatum; floribus corymbosis, pedunculis scapum supcranlibus, filamentiä
subulatodilatatis, mtegerrimis. Sin.
ORN ITH O G A LUM umbellatum. Linn. Sp. P L p. 441. Hudsl Angl. p. 143. W ith B o t A r r
e d .4 , .m l , t .f . SSO. H ull B r . Fl. ed .S .p . 95- Hofflm. Germ. p. U 9 . Roth
Germ. ml. 2. p. 395. W illil Sp. PI. ml. 2, JP. 116. Smith Fl. B r it. p. 364.
Engl. B o t.t. 130. Decani. Fl. Fr. ei. 3. ml. 3. p. 217. Decani. Fl. Gail.
P‘ Syn. P L ml. 1. p. 364. Alton Hort. Kew. ed. 2. ml. 2.
p. 957. Jacq. Aiistr. vol. 4. p. 22. t. 343.
ORN ITH O G A LUM stipulis maximis, petiolis lateralibus longissimis. H a lt TIclv. n. 1215.
ORN ITH O G A LUM vulgare et verius, majus e t minus. R ail Syn. p. 372.
HAIOXAPMOS. Renealmi, p . 88. t, 87.
Dut. Gemeen Vogelmelk. ^ W it Vogelmelk. Fr. L'Ornithogale à bouquet. L a dame d'onze heures.
Germ. Die Gemiene oder doldenförmige Vogelmilch. Huhnermilch. Aekerzwiebel. Pol. Snoidek.
. Ituss. Peitsche gnjezdo.
Class a n d Ord e r . H EX A N D R IA MON O G Y N IA .
[N a turae O rd e r . ASPHODELEfE, Jms. B r . E lL IA C E f i Trib. I I . A S PH O D E L I, Decani.]
Ge n . Ch a r . Pcrianthium sex-partitum, persistans, supra medium patens. Filamenta basi dilatata. Capmla
trilocularis. Semina subrotunda, nuda.
Bulbus ovatus, tunicatus, fuscus, basi fibrosus.
Folia omnia radicalia, mollia, flexuosa, linearia, canaliculate,
linea media alba, dorso convexa, apice
obtusa. ’
Scapus palmaris et ultra, erectus, teres.
T1 LORES in corymbum terminalem, octo ad decern, pe-
dunculati; pedunculis alternis, unifloris, inferi-
oribus longioribus; omnibus bracteatis, bracteis
solitariis, subulatis, membranaceis, fuscis, pedun-
culo brevidribus.
P e r ia n t iiium hexaphyllum; foliolis ovatis, patenti-
bus, albis, dorso viridibus.
Stamina : Filamenta sex, subulata, basi dilatata, inte-
gerrima, alba. Anther® oblong®, flav®.
Ovarium o
Stylu
’atum, sulcis s
brevis. Stiff
c longitudinaliter notatum.
a simplex.
Bulb ovate, tunicated, brown, fibrous a t the base.
Leaves all radical, soft, flexuose, linear, grooved, with
a white central line, convex on the back, obtuse
at the extremity.
Scape a span or more in height, erect, round.
F lowers in a terminal corymb, from eight to ten, pedunculate;
peduncles alternate, one-flowered, the
lower ones the longest; all bracteated, the bracts
solitary, subulate, membranaceous, brown, shorter
than the peduncle.
P e r ia n t h six-leaved; leaflets ovate, patent, white, the
back greenish;
Stamens : Filaments six, subulate, dilated a t the base,
entire, white. Anthers oblong, yellow.
Ovary ovate, marked with six longitudinal grooves.
Style short. Stigma simple.
1. leaflet of the Perianth. Fig. 2. Stamens. Fig. 3. A single Stamen. Ftg. 4. Ovary and Style.
This, as well as the O nutans, is looked upon as a doubtful native, though it is perhaps of more frequent occurrence,
having been found, amongst other places, near Stockport in Cheshire; near Newburgh in Anglesea • near
Eaton, inBuckinghainshtre; a t Eulbourn, in Cambridgeshire; onEverton Heath, Bedfordshire ; near Basingwerk
Abbey, Flintshire ; near Bristol ; m pastures near Barton and Christ-church meadow, Oxon ; io a wood at Itack-
pule-Court-house, Pembrokeshire ; at several places in Suffolk ; a t Lewes, in Sussex ; near Rippon and Knaresbo-
were iilh e rrr "hff, n*fl ° B-ckeuham and Bawburgh, near Norwich, from which latter place our. specimens
. aoTefen onlhecoast^oL B u rÜ y ' °f M ^ - 0 n the this pretty flower is v o y common,
,, ■It. ‘s ^ “ arkable for the great length of the inferior flower-stalks, which elevate the lower blossoms to an equal
height with the superior ones, thus forming a-corymbus, and not an umbel, as Sir James'Smith has well remarked.
Linnæus considers the root of this plant to be the Stercus columbinum, mentioned in the Book of Kin^s • whence
H James Smith has taken occasion to guess a t the derivation of the generic name* which Tournefort supposed to
be derived from the similarity of the colour of the flowers to the plumage of some birds : Caspar Bauhin and
others, from the milky nature of the juice of the roots; whilst Renealmi says the Greeks named it Om 6ovcc\ov
casu potius quam consilio ; quid enim est lac avis ?” p yaAov
, The roots are much eaten in the Levant. Poiret mentions in the Encyclopédie Botanique, that they mav
be îoasted like chesnuts, or boiled in water, or cooked under the ashes, and that he finds them in each method
equally good.
In France this plant is called L a dame d'onze heures, because the flowers open a t about eleven in the morning
a.nd not at all in cloudy weather ; and when they have been gathered some time they expand asmin if exnosed to
the sun This » observed by Decandolle ; and Renealmi long ago said, ■ ' vocandam sole
gaudentem, quod eo solum tempore flores explicet, quo Sol radios suos libere in terram ejaculatur • si enim vel
nubes vel tenebr® noctis obstent, illos occludit.” ’
* “ Linnteus says, Mont. 864, that they are the dove’s dune which
ch. vi. ver. 25.) though Olaus Celsius (Hierobot. vol. ii. p. 30.) and m
o dear during the siege of Samaria (Second Book of Kings,
we obtain a sort of clue to the derivation of Omithogalum (Bird’s m
v.v -«tics take that term in its literal sense. IfLinnseus be right,
apply to the white fluid which always accompanies the dung of birds
lk) which has puzzled all etymologists. May not that denomination
of colours in the green and white of this flower, which accords pit
, and is their urine ? One may almost perceive a similar combination
OmUhogalum." Smith in EngL Bot.
cisely in that respect with the description Dioscorides gives of his