Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Star of Bethlehem (plant)
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The Star of Bethlehem is a genus (Ornithogalum) of perennial plants native to southern Europe belonging to the family Hyacinthaceae. Growing from a bulb, it has grass-like basal leaves and a slender stalk, up to 30 cm tall, bearing clusters of star-shaped white flowers striped with green. There are numerous members of the genus, of which O. umbellatum is perhaps the best-known:
- O. arabicum , Star of Bethlehem
- O. dubium
- O. longibracteatum , pregnant onion, false sea onion
- O. nutans
- O. narbonense
- O. umbellatum , sleepydick, Star of Bethlehem
Because of its star-shaped flowers, it is named for the Star of Bethlehem that appeared in the Biblical account of the birth of Jesus.
Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem refers to plants of a different genus. See Gagea.
03-10-2013 05:06:04
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details