ORNITH 
firft: gave the true explanation, in fuggefting, (Mant. 364. 
Pradeft. in Ord. Nat. 287.) that the O. umbellatum ap¬ 
pears to be the doves' dung mentioned in the 2d Book of 
Kings as having fetched fo high a price during the 
liege of Samaria. It is recorded by the facred writer, 
that “ a quarter of a cab of doves’ dung then fold for 
five pieces of filver;” and the rabbinical commentators, 
taking the words literally, aflerted that it was ufed as 
fuel. As the plant grows copioufly in Paleftine, (whence 
the Englifti name, ftar of Bethlehem,) and the roots are 
itill in common ufe for food in that country, the name is 
explained by the refemblance in the colours of the flower 
to the dung of birds, the white or milky part of which, 
their urine, is contrafted with dull-green, exactly as in 
the petals of this original fpecies of the genus before us, 
and which appears to be the very one defcribed by Diof- 
corides.] Star of Bethlehem ; in botany, a genus of 
the clafs hexandria, order monogynia, natural order of 
coronari®, (afphodeli, Juff.) Generic charadters—Calyx : 
none. Corolla: petals fix, lanceolate, upright below the 
middle, above it fpreading, permanent, loling their co¬ 
lour. Stamina: filaments fix, upright, alternately wi¬ 
dening at the bafe, fliorter than the corolla; anther® 
Ample. Piftillum : germ angular; ftyle awl-ftiaped, per¬ 
manent. Stigma blunt. Pericarpium : capl'ule roundilh, 
angular, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds many, round- 
illi. —Effential Charadler. Corolla fix-petalled, upright, 
permanent, fpreading above the middle ; filaments alter¬ 
nate, widening at the bafe. There are thirty-feven fpecies. 
I. With all the ftamens awl-lhaped. 
1. Ornithogalum uniflorum, or one-flowered ftar of 
Betklehem: fcape two-leaved; peduncle one-flowered. 
The plant altogether refembles the common fort, Sp. 4. 
but the peduncle is undivided and one-flowered. Flower 
half the fize of Tulipa fylveltris, but three times as big as 
that of O. luteum. Leaves on the ftetn two, one above, 
both the length of the flower or the plant, double the 
breadth of O. luteum. Found in Siberia by Laxman. 
Introduced in 1781 by baron Claes Alftroemer. 
2. Ornithogalum niveum, or fnowy ftar of Bethlehem : 
raceme few-flowered ; petals lanceolate ; leaves filiform, 
channelled. Leaves fmooth, fcarcely a finger’s length. 
Scape Ihorter than the leaves. Found by Mafl'on at the 
Ca| e of Good Hope, and introduced in 1744. Itflowers 
here in Auguft. 
3. Ornithogalum umbellatum, orcommon ftar of Beth¬ 
lehem: corymb few-flowered; peduncles longer than the 
brakes, the outer taller than the central ones. Bulb 
folid, having fmaller bulbs joining to it. Root-leaves 
(fometimes five) foft, keeled, or convex on the outfide, 
and channelled within, with a white filvery ftreak, from 
one to two lines in width, and above a foot in length, 
linear, bright-green. Scape upright, round, very fmooth, 
a long fpan or a foot in height, terminating at top in al¬ 
ternate peduncles, very long and broad, all together form¬ 
ing a l'ort of corymb refembling an irregular umbel, 
but not fpringing from the fame point; the lower ones 
being longer, the flowers are all nearly of the fame height; 
they are one-flowered, and each has a white, membrana¬ 
ceous, lanceolate, very large, bradte 5 petals white, with 
a broad green ftreak along the under fide ; lanceolate, in 
two rows, three appearing to be a little larger, near an 
inch long, and four lines wide. Filaments lanceolate, 
flat, flelhy, every other broader; all Ample, not three of 
them forked or emarginate, as defcribed by Linnaeus, 
Haller, &c. Anther® pale-yellow, two lines in length. 
Germ with fix blunt angles. Stigma three-fided, white, 
blunt. Capfule ovate, blunt. Mr. Woodward remarks, 
that this fpecies is very improperly called umbellatum, as the 
flowers are in a raoft evident fpike (or rather corymb), 
whereas in O. luteum they aftually grow ip an umbel. 
Nativeof the fouthern parts of Europe, Germany, France, 
Swiflerland, Auftria, Carniola, Italy; alfo of the Levant; 
in orchards, pafturcs, vineyards, and thickets. It is not 
O G A L U M. 759 
unfrequent in meadows, paftures, and groves, in England, 
floweringin April and May. Dr. Sibthorp found it abun¬ 
dantly in the fields of Greece ; nor does this fpecies l’eem 
to be rare throughout the Levant. It is unqueftionably 
the o^v^oyaXov of Diofcorides, and we have already ex¬ 
plained that name. With us it is frequent in gardens ; 
confpicuous in the fpring, for its large umbel-like corymb 
of fliining white ftarry blofloms, green at the back. The 
roots are eaten boiled, chiefly by poor people, in the Le¬ 
vant. See a Kings, vi. 25. 
4. Ornithogalum luteum, or yellow ftar of Bethlehem : 
fcape angular, two-leaved ; peduncles umbelled, Ample. 
Root-leaves generally fingle and longer than the Item, 
which is from four to fix inches high. Stein-leaves fome¬ 
times two, three, or four, one very large, the other 
fmaller, all unequal; fringed with fine white hairs. From 
thefe arife a few fruit-ftalks, (three to feven,) each fup- 
porting one flower, and forming an umbel. Petals in 
two feries, the inner greenilh-yellow, the outer entirely 
green. Mr. Woodward has a fpecimen from the banks 
of the Tees, in which from two brafteal leaves arifes a 
fingle fruit-ftalk, fupporting one flower. The roots of 
this fpecies have been ufed for food in times of fcarcity 
in Sweden : thofe of all the fpecies are nutritious and 
wholefome. It is a native of mod parts of Europe, in 
■Woods, paftures, and moift fandy places; flowering in 
April. With us in the meadows near Godaiming in Sur¬ 
rey ; woods near Afliford-mill, and Fauler, in Oxford- 
fliire ; in feveral parts of the North ; as in a meadow ad- 
joiningto the Copper-mills, Derby; under Malham-cove ; 
near Doncafter, Yorklhire ; and Kendal, Weftmoreland ; 
in the woods on the banks of the Tees, near Greta- 
bridge, and Bignal, Yorkfhire; in Northumberland. 
Found in Scotland by Sibbald. 
5. Ornithogalum minimum, or fmall fheathed ftar of 
Bethlehem : fcape angular, two-leaved, peduncles um¬ 
belled, branched. This refembles the preceding very 
much, but the petals are more acute. Scopoli and Gme- 
lin think that they are only varieties; and Haller allows 
that there is a great fimilitude between them. The pre¬ 
ceding has the flowers yellow and larger, on Ample pe¬ 
duncles : the leaves are alfo wider and greener. This 
has fmaller flowers, more numerous, greenifh or afh-co- 
loured yellow, on fubdivided peduncles ; leaves fmall, 
afh-coloured green. Leers diftinguilhes it from the com¬ 
mon yellow fort by the fcape being roundilh, the umbel 
fliorter, the leaves of the involucre more and longer, the 
peduncles round ; the petals fix, eight, or nine, of s» 
golden fliining yellow, fpreading very much, Iharper, the 
three outer blunter, pubefcent underneath. Krockerre» 
marks, that it is readily known from the preceding by 
its growing in a tuft. The roots, though fmall, are efcu- 
lent. Mr. Miller fays, that the bulbs are not larger than 
peafe, and that one or two narrow keel-lhaped leaves 
about five inches long, of a greyifh colour, arife from them; 
that the ftalk is angular, about four inches high, having 
two narrow keel-fhaped leaves juft below the flowers, 
which aredifpofed in an umbel on branching peduncles ; 
they are yellow within, but of a purplifli-green on the 
outfide ; they appear in May, and are fucceeded by fmall 
triangular capfules, filled with reddifh uneven feeds. 
Native of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Francs, 
Swiflerland, Hungary, and Italy, on the borders of fields. 
6. Ornithogalum arvenfe, or yellow field-ftar of Beth¬ 
lehem : corymb compound, many-flowered, downy ; brac- 
tes lanceolate, fringed ; leaves linear. Much larger than 
the preceding ; with the n umerous flower-ftalks, and un¬ 
der fide of the petals, downy. Native of the Levant. 
7. Ornithogalum Pyrenaicum, orPyrenean ftar of Beth¬ 
lehem : raceme very long; petals linear, blunt; filaments 
lanceolate, equal, ityle the length of the Itamens. Bulb 
pretty large, with feveral long keeled leaves coming out 
from it, and fpreading on the ground ; among thefe comes 
out a fingle naked ftalk about two feet long, fuftaininga 
long loofe fpike of flowers of a yellowilh-green colour, 
on 
4 
