White and Greenish 



the visitors suffer no ill effects from the nectar. We have just 

 seen how the green arrov^^-arum bores a hole in the mud and plants 

 its own seeds in autumn. The hellebore uses its auger in the 

 spring, when we find the stout, shining, solid tool above ground 

 with the early skunk-cabbage. 



Star of Bethlehem ; Ten O'Clock 



{Ornithogalum umbellatum) Lily family 



Flowers — Opening in the sunshine, white within, greenish on the 

 outside, veined, borne on slender pedicels in an erect, loose 

 cluster. Perianth of 6 narrowly oblong divisions, ^ in. long 

 or over, or about twice as long as the flattened stamens ; style 

 short, 3-sided. Scape: Slender, 4 to 12 in. high, with narrow, 

 blade-like bracts above. Leaves: Narrow, grass-like, with 

 white midvein, fleshy, all from coated, egg-shaped bulb. 



Preferred Habitat— lAoiSt, grassy meadows, old lawns. 



Flowering Season — May — June. 



Distribution — Escaped from gardens from Massachusetts to Vir- 

 ginia. 



The finding of these exquisite little flowers, growing wild 

 among the lush grass of a meadow not far from some old home- 

 stead where their ancestors, with crocuses and grape hyacinths, 

 once brightened the lawn in early spring, makes one long to start 

 a Parkinson Society instantly. Some school children not far from 

 New York, receivmg their inspiration from Mrs. Ewing's little 

 book, "Mary's Meadow," have spread the gospel of beauty, like 

 the true missionaries they are, by systematically planting in lanes 

 and fields sweet violets, golden coreopsis, hardy poppies, blue 

 corn-flowers, Japanese roses, orange day-lilies, larkspurs, and 

 many other charming garden flowers that need only the slightest 

 encouragement to run wild. Immense quantities of seed, that go to 

 loss in every garden, might so easily be sprinkled at large on our 

 walks. Nearly all the beautiful hardy perennials cultivated here 

 grow in Nature's garden in Europe or Asia, and will do so in Amer- 

 ica if they are but given the chance. The Star of Bethlehem is a 

 case in point. Several members of the large group of charming 

 spring flowers to which it belongs grow in such abundance in the 

 Old World that for centuries the bulbs have furnished food to the 

 omnivorous Italian and Asiatic peasants. If we cannot spare offsets 

 from the garden, and will wait a few years for seeds to bear, the 

 rich, light loam of our grassy meadows, too, will be streaked with 

 a Milky Way jof floral stars, as they are in Italy. 



The Greek generic name of the Star of Bethlehem, meaning 

 " bird's milk " (a popular folk expression in Europe for some mar- 

 vellous thing) was applied by Linnaeus because of the flower's 



158 



