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Ornithogalum umbellatum

Common name:	Star Of Bethlehem	Family:	Liliaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Skin contact with the bulb can cause dermatitis in sensitive people[65]. The bulb contains alkaloids and is poisonous[2, 62]. Another report says that the bulb is poisonous to grazing animals[183].
Range:	Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to the Mediterranean.
Habitat:	Grassy places in eastern England[5, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Gewone Vogelmelk [D], Leche De Gallina [E], Sleepydick [B,P], Star Of Bethlehem [H], Star-Of-Bethlehem [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	bella = pretty
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Liliales. Lily family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Egypt Spain Us
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Bulb growing to 0.3m by 0.15m . It is hardy to zone 5. It is in flower from April to May, and the seeds ripen from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Flowers Root.

Bulb - raw or cooked[2, 5, 46, 61, 183]. The bulbs can be dried and ground into a powder[207]. Whilst the bulbs are palatable and wholesome according to some reports[2, 4, 115], some caution is advised. See the notes above on toxicity.
Flowers - baked in bread[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Bach.

A homeopathic remedy is made from the bulbs[4]. It is useful in the treatment of certain forms of cancer[4].
The plant is used in Bach flower remedies - the keywords for prescribing it are 'After effect of shock, mental or physical'[209]. It is also one of the five ingredients in the 'Rescue remedy'[209].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, succeeding in an ordinary garden soil[1, 42]. Tolerates partial shade[200].
Hardy to about -20° c[200]. The dormant bulbs are very hardy and will withstand soil temperatures down to at least -10° c[214].
A very ornamental plant[1], but it can be invasive where conditions suit it[200]. It can be naturalized in short turf or thin grass below shrubs[200], though this should not be mown from the time the bulbs start to grow until they have set seed and the leaves are dying down.

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[200]. Sow the seed thinly and leave the seedlings undisturbed in the pots for their first dormancy, but apply liquid feed at intervals, especially in their second year of growth. Divide the bulbs at the end of their second year of growth, putting 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for one more year and them plant them out into their permanent positions whilst they are dormant. The seed can also be sown in a cold frame in early spring.
Division of offsets in September/October[200]. The larger bulbs can be replanted immediately into their permanent positions. It is best to pot up the smaller bulbs and grow them on for a year before planting them out when dormant in late summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Liliaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[42] Grey. C. H. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate. 1938
Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[209] Chancellor. P. M. Handbook of the Bach Flower Remedies C. W. Daniel Co. Ltd. 1985 ISBN 85207 002 0
Details the 38 remedies plus how and where to prescribe them.

[214] Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. Royal Horticultural Society 1994 ISBN 1352-4186
A quarterly magazine, it has articles on Himalayacalamus hookerianus, hardy Euphorbias and an excellent article on Hippophae spp.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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