ORNITHOGALUM AUREUM. 
(Golden Star of Bethlehem.) 
Class. Order. 
HEXANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
LILIACEiE. 
Generic Character Perianth sJx-petalled ; petals 
spreading. Stamens six, hypogynous ; filaments awl- 
shaped. Ovary three-celled ; ovules numerous in each 
cell, in two ranks, anatropal. Style three-cornered, 
erect. Stigma obtuse, three-angled. Capsule mem- 
branaceous, obtuse, tbree-angled, three-celled, dehis- 
cing at the "apex. Seeds few in each cell, subglobose, 
or angular ; testa dark, wrinkled. 
Specific Character.— Plant a bulbous perennial. 
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, edged with white, somewhat 
fleshy, smooth, dark green. Racemes erect, densely 
flowered ; the stalk 8—12 inches high. Bracts large, 
concave, pointed. Flowers large, golden-coloured. 
Filaments all dilated at the base, or rather sitting on 
a white glandular nectary, emarginate on the inside. 
Through the kindness of Mr* Brewster, gardener to Mrs. Wray, at Oakfield, 
near Cheltenham, we are enabled to furnish a figure of this beautiful species, which, 
although more than half a century has now passed away since it first appeared 
among the cultivated plants of this country, is yet by no means a common species. 
Most of the specimens now existing in collections, we believe, have been imported 
within the last few years, along with other 44 Stars of Bethlehem," and a host of 
the Iridaceous species which throng the terraced lands of the Cape of Good Hope. 
These plants constitute a prominent feature in the Flora of that district. During 
the dry season the foliage gradually matures and dies, and the bulbs sink to rest 
till the heavy rains again moisten the earth, and awake them to renewed activity. 
They grow rapidly, and immediately the rains have ceased, they are ready to unfold 
their lovely blossoms. Most of the Irids are fugitive flowers, but the Ornitho- 
galums are more lasting in their beauty. 
The length and breadth of the foliage of O. aureum are somewhat variable ; 
so also is the colour of the flowers, which runs through several grades of yellow. 
The flowers, moreover, of some specimens expand widely, whilst in others they 
partake more of a cup-like form. As the interior portion of the flower is the most 
brightly coloured, it is almost superfluous to add, that the former are by much the 
most handsome. 
Some of the racemes sent us were ultimately from twelve to eighteen inches 
long. The flowers are not all evolved at once ; but the raceme continues to 
elongate, and the blossoms to expand, during a period of several weeks. That 
from which our drawing was made, with several others, was kept in water in a 
