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 plant | relatively tiny | strong | relatively tiny ? |
Leaves | number: 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 blossoms | 3 - 12 | 11 - 22 | 10 - 15 |
Flower time | late | early | late ? |
Wings of the ovary | rounded | rounded | sharp-edged |
White edge at the outer side of the 3 outer petals | relative wide | narrow | relative 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 |
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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.
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