STAR OF BETHLEHEM. 269 



STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Omithocjalum. 



Natural Order Coronarice. Asphodeli, Juss. A Genus 

 of the Hexandria Monogynia Class. 



And shape star-bright appear'd. 



Milton* 



This bulbous-rooted flower received the reverential 

 title of Star of Bethlehem from the formation of its 

 corolla ; for it is not, as many persons formerly 

 supposed, a native of the land of Judea. The 

 Latin name is derived from the Greek O^viSoyaXov, 

 which is supposed to have been given it from the 

 whiteness of the root or flower, but, we think, more 

 probably from the white vein that runs up the leaf 

 of the species pyramidale, which the French call 

 Epi-de-lait, milky blade, and Epi-de-la-vierge, 

 virgin's blade, a flower which is indigenous to 

 France and the hills of Spain and Portugal. The 

 common Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbel- 

 latum, grows spontaneously in France, Switzerland, 

 Germany, Carniola, Italy, and some places in the 

 Levant. Mr. Martin says, " with us it is a doubt- 

 ful native, as many of the bulbous plants are ;" but 



