The star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum, includes many species, none native to this country. Hence, they are known to readers only in the cultivated state.
The genus belongs to one of the largest and best-known groups of flowering plants — the lily family, numerous species of which are grown in the home: the garden and the greenhouse.
The family includes several perennial plants vegetatively propagated using bulbs, although the seed may be used in some of them as a propagule.
Ornithogalum’s Flower Parts
They are characterized by the regularity in form and number of the flower parts, such as the petals and the sepals, which may be colored and white. They are invariably composed of six parts, in most species similar in form.
As is well known, the stamens bearing the pollen are also six in number. The seeds are borne in the ovary, composed of three parts or carpels.
When the ovary matures, it becomes a dry fruit. This may be a capsule, as in the Star of Bethlehem, or a fleshy berry-like the lily of the valley.
The flower parts in some liliaceous plants, such as daffodils, tulips, and others, have doubled due to genetic changes, but not so with the ornithogalums.
There can be no doubt that the flowers of the lily family are unsurpassed in their beauty. It has never been suggested, so far as the writer knows, that the star of Bethlehem may have been the “lily of the field” referred to by the Saviour.
Some botanists think that this lily may have been Sternberg, a beautiful liliaceous plant. Which grew in abundance where He lived and taught His people.
Star Of Bethlehem
The common name, star of Bethlehem, is more properly applied to a single species, known botanically as Ornithogalum Ornithogalum umbellatum, distinguished from the other species commonly grown in this country by its perianth parts (petals and sepals) which are exactly alike and greenish white.
Another species, known in its native African haunts as the chincherinchee plant, Ornithogalain Myrsoides, bears perfectly white flowers.
Perhaps the most commonly grown and beautiful species is O. arabieum, which also produces white flowers with (lark green centers. However, the flowers of this species are surpassed by O. splendens, the perianth being deep vermilion.
The individual flowers of most species are borne in racemes on stalks that may exceed 3’ feet in height. However, the writer has observed the leaves in O. umbellatum to grow to about 2’ feet.
Starting With Bulbs
One may begin with the seed, which may be purchased or obtained from a plant after the flowering period.
Although the seed germinates in moist soil, peat., or vermiculite, the seedlings may require three years to produce blooming plants.
It is advisable to start the plants with bulbs. If large bulbs, which may exceed two and ½” inches in diameter, can be obtained, it is easy to grow vigorous blooming plants with proper culture.
The bulb may be planted just below the soil’s surface in a 6” or 8” inch flower pot, filled to within an inch from the top with a mixture of equal parts of loam, sand, and peat.
Placing small pieces of charcoal or pottery in the bottom of the pot before it is filled with the soil mixture is advisable to facilitate good drainage and aeration.
The pot containing the bulb should be watered and placed in a cool cellar until the lamb is well-rooted. It should then be set in a warm and well-lighted room.
A higher temperature than that of the living room favors growth and bloom. Plants started in late September and should flower in January.
Vegetative Method
New bulbs are produced in all species by a vegetative method called division. Bulbs formed in this manner originate from the outer basal portion of the primary bulb. If detached and planted, they will usually germinate at once and may come into bloom in a year or two.
Some species, such as 0. arabieum, are also produced using runners. In O. umbellatum, they are often formed in large numbers, apparently from the “covers” of the bulb. These, however, originate from the outer portion of the stem.
Since most of the ornithogalums are easy enough, except the familiar Ornithogalum unibellatunt, the bulbs must be taken up in the Fall if the plants are grown in the garden and stored for future planting.
44659 by W. N. Steil