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    Ornithogalum umbellatum  L.  agg.    
 

APG-Fam.: Asparagacae / Asparagus Fam.       Fam. tradit.: Liliaceae / Lily Fam.  

Genus:  Ornithogalum  L.
 

Authors:
   L.:  Carl von Linné (Linnaeus, 1707 - 1777), Swedish naturalist who introduced the binary naming system for plants and animals
 

Etymology:
   Ornithogalum:   ornithos = bird, gala = milk
   umbellatum:   umbellate
 

The group of the Umbellate White Stars of Bethlehem around Ornithogalum umbellatum forms an aggregate of several clans in the Mediterranean and Central Europe. There are several, partly contradictory works with different interpretations of the clans. The problem starts already with Linné's herbarium which contains only Ornithogalum umbellatum from Russia and Spain, but he wrote that the species occurs in Germany and France, whereon later a different lectotype from the Loire valley in France has been defined. The different clans have different chromosome numbers and ploidy levels.
Three of the clans of the Ornithogalum umbellatum aggregate are also available in Western Germany. At the most Western edge of Germany mainly O. angustifolium and O. divergens are available, while O. vulgaris shall be the most frequent clan in Bavaria and in the western parts of Austria. The attributes of these three clans are compared in the table:

Attribute Ornithogalum angustifolium   
= O. umbellatum s.str.
Ornithogalum divergens     Ornithogalum vulgare SAILER
Figure of the plantrelatively tiny     strongrelatively tiny ?
Leavesnumber: 8 - 15,
13 - 21 cm long,
2,5 - 5 mm wide
number: 5 - 8,
22 - 28 cm long,
5 - 8 mm wide
number: 5 - 7,
11 - 30 cm long,
3 - 8 mm wide ?
Number of blossoms3 - 1211 - 2210 - 15
Flower timelateearlylate ?
Wings of the ovaryroundedroundedsharp-edged
White edge at the outer   
side of the 3 outer petals    
relative widenarrowrelative wide
Bulbils (subterranean)number: 3 - 10, oval,
with leaves in the first year
number: 15 - 100, small,
without leaves in the first year    
number: 15 - 100, small,
without leaves in the first year    
   
Other, mostly mediterranean clans within the aggregate:   Ornithogalum kochii (also along the Elbe ?), orthophyllum, orbelicum, etc.
 
Below see some not yet determined Stars of Bethlehem which probably belong to this aggregate.

 

Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem, F Maures, Grimaud 11.5.1984
Fig. 1:  Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem
F Maures, Grimaud 11.5.1984
Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem, Chios Vavili 28.3.2016
Fig. 2:  Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem
Chios, Vavili 28.3.2016
Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem, Samos Zoodochos Pigi 11.4.2017
Fig. 3:  Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem
Samos, Zoodochos Pigi 11.4.2017
Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem, Rhodos Kallithea Terme 25.4.1987
Fig. 4:  Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem (with Plantago cretica, Trifolium stellatum)
Rhodos, Kallithea Terme 25.4.1987
Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem, Rhodos Kattavia 25.3.2005
Fig. 5:  Ornithogalum umbellatum agg. / White Star of Bethlehem
Rhodos, Kattavia 25.3.2005

 


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