M^ 



Star 0f getWjeliem. 



(Oniitl)Ot\aluiU lllllbcllatUin. Natlhai, Ordkk: Liliacccc — JJIy Family. 



ENTIONED by Pliny, author ot" a Natural History, who 

 flourished a. u. 77, the Ornithogalum has given rise to 

 ^c^ much comment as to the origin ot' its name. It is 

 deri\ed from two Greek words, ornithoi. a hird. and iiahi. 

 milk — a most singular combination, sureh': and we cannot 

 • ' help suggesting the following theoiy: The Greeks had a 

 ]init\ and poetic conceit, that in spring a certain wind blew, and 

 with it brought the birds of passage to gladden their bowers with 

 song, and this wind the}^ named ornifJiias, or bird-wind. Now the 

 Star of Bethlehem blooms in April and May, about the tinie of the 

 \ birds' return, thus poetically is seen a flower greeting the birds: a 

 flower, too, which is of an opaque white, or milk color. The 

 English name is from the shape of the blossom. The bulbs fre- 

 quently attain a great size. 



I^jtantilialion* 



I 



hed together, glad 

 And swift as llame to tiame. 



386 



Dora Greenwell, 



