LILIACEjE. 



855 



XL ORNITHOGALUM. ORNITHOGALUM. 



Bulbous herbs, with the leaves all radical, and not sheathing the 

 stem. Flowers white or partly green, in a terminal raceme, with a 

 scarious bract under each pedicel. Perianth very spreading, with dis- 

 tinct segments, remaining persistent after fading. Stamens almost 

 free from the perianth, with flattened filaments. Seeds few, black, 

 nearly globular. 



A considerable genus, chiefly European, west Asiatic, and African, 

 only distinguished from Squill by the more persistent perianth, with- 

 out any blue or pink in its colour. 



Raceme flattened into a corymb, the lower pedicels much 



longer than the upper 1. Common 0, 



Raceme elongated, the pedicels of nearly equal length. 



Flowers few and large, the segments near an inch long . . 2. Drooping O. 

 Flowers small and numerous, the segments about 4 lines 



long 3. Spiked O. 



1. Common Ornithogalum. Ornithogalum umbellatum, 

 Linn. (Fig. 1027.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 130. Star-of-Bethlehem.) 



Bulbs ovoid, full of a clammy juice, 

 like that of the Bluebell. Leaves long 

 and narrow, weak and flaccid. Stem 

 from a few inches to near a foot high. 

 Raceme flattened into a corymb,, the 

 lower pedicels being lengthened so as to 

 bring their flowers at least to the level 

 of the inner ones. Perianth-segments 

 very spreading, varying from 6 lines to 

 near an inch in length, white, with a 

 broad, green, central line outside. 



In waste and cultivated places, in 

 central and southern Europe, from 

 France and southern Scandinavia, to the 

 Caucasus. In Britain, not truly indi- 

 genous, but established as a weed in 

 many parts of England. Fl. spring and 

 early summer. 



Tig. 1027. 



