2408 



ORNITHOGALUM 



ORNITHOGALUM 



ORNITHOGALUM (Greek, bird and milk; applica- 

 tion not obvious). Liliacese. 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 Ivs. 

 and a simple leafless scape: fls. white, yellowish or 

 reddish, mostly racemose; perianth persistent; tube 

 none; segms. 6, usually spreading; stamens 6, the fila- 

 ments more or less flattened and in many species 

 unequal, alternate ones being broader at the base; 



2679. Ornithogalum 

 arabicum. 



ovary sessile, 3-celled; ovules many in a cell, super- 

 posed; style short or long: caps, membranous, loculi- 

 cidally 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 sub- 

 divided into dwarf and tall. The hardy kinds are con- 

 sidered 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, 0. 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 ornithog- 

 alums. In borders amongst other named bulbs, how- 

 ever, 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 sub- 

 ject 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. latifolium is recorded as bearing over 

 one hundred spikes of flowers on stalks 3 feet high. 0. 

 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. 0. arabi- 

 cum is suitable for pot culture in northern conserva- 

 tories, but perhaps the best way to grow it is in quan- 

 tity 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. 0. thyrsoides is easier to grow and 

 earlier to bloom. With gentle forcing it may be had 

 for Christmas in a moderately warm house. 0. revolu- 

 tum is very distinct in having revolute instead of spread- 

 ing 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 1J^ 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 1 J^ inches wide ; raceme Y"i 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. 



INDEX. 



arabicum, 1. kewense, 3. pyramidale, 10. 



aureum, 3. lacteum, 4. revolutum, 14. 



biflorum, 11. latifolium, 5. Saundersise, 2. 



caudatum, 13. longebracteatum, 12. tenuifolium, 6. . 



exscapum, 8. narbonense, 10. thyrsoides, 3. 



flavescens, 3. nutans, 9. umbellatum, 7. 



A. Segms. of perianth self-colored on front and back, not 



keeled with color (No. 2 tinged outside). 

 B. Pistil prominent, shining, greenish black. 



1. arabicum, Linn. Fig. 2679. Bulb ovoid, 1-1^ in. 

 thick, proliferous: Ivs. 5-8, glaucous green, 1-1 H ft. 

 long, %-l in. wide: scape 1-2 ft. long; raceme 6-12-fld., 

 roundish or deltoid in outline, 3-5 in. long and wide; 

 fls. self-colored, odorous; filaments lanceolate, not cus- 

 pidate, alternate ones distinctly broader, but not quad- 

 rangular on the base. Medit. region. B.M. 728; 3179 

 and B.R. 906 (asO.corymbosum). G.C. II. 19:665. Gn. 

 22, p. .249; 32, p. 145; 41, p. 377; 49:308 and p. 309. 

 J.H. III. 61:539. Gn.W. 20:592. G. 10:318; 27:249. 

 C.L.A. 5:48. The blackish pistil is a beautiful and 

 interesting character. The most popular species for 

 pot culture. 



2. Saundersiae, Baker. Bulb large and globose: Ivs. 

 many, flaccid, lorate, more than 1 ft. long: peduncle 

 terete, 2-3 ft., bearing many corymbose fls. on pedicels 

 to 2 in. long with greenish lanceolate bracts; perianth 

 white, Hin. long, the segms. orbicular, tinged outside 

 with green; stamens half as long as perianth; ovary 

 blackish green, with a very short style. S. Afr. 



BB. Pistil not a striking feature, dull, smaller. 

 c. Number of fls. in a cluster less than 50. 



3. thyrsoides, Jacq. Bulb globose, l>-2 in. thick: 

 Ivs. 5-6, lanceolate, &-12 in. long, 1-2 in. wide, atten- 

 uate above, the margin obscurely ciliate: scape Yf^A. 

 ft. high; raceme 12-30-fld., dense, triangular in outline, 

 3-4 in. wide; fls. self-colored; segms. ovate and strongly 

 imbricate; filaments alternately longer and lanceolate, 

 alternately shorter, dilated above the base and bicus- 

 pidate. S. Afr. B.M. 1164 (fls. white, with a brown 

 eye). In cult., the perianth may be 1 in. long. Var. 



