Skip over navigation

NEN Gallery

NEN Gallery
Home / Private Collections / Starz / Science / Plants / UK Wild Flowers / Wild Plants - May / Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)
Asset 1 of 1 Previous Asset [ 1 ] Next Asset   [Slideshow]

Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum)

Show/Hide_Details
Download:

432 x 640
1668 x 2472

Unique Id:

62000

This item is saved in one of your albums. Click to remove it.. My Albums

This plant has a delicate flower consisting of white three white petals and three white sepals; they have a green stripe down the back. It has long narrow leaves. It was thought to be a symbol of purity. It was named because it was thought to look like the star of Bethlehem and because it is a common plant in Palestine. Its flowers close up in the afternoon or earlier if the sky is overcast. The roots were once mixed with honey and eaten but the raw bulbs are poisonous to cattle. It may have been native to parts of East Anglia but is now widely naturalized, especially in this area. The plant grows in grassy places and flowers April - June. Picture taken May 2nd Maulden, Bedfordshire.

Added:
2nd May 2006 by Diane Earl

Subjects:
Biology, Science

Key Stages:
Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, Key Stage 4+

Keywords:
plant flower wildlife

Related Links:

EXIF data:

National Education Network
Developed by E2BN for the National Education Network
E2B® and E2BN® are registered trade marks and trading names of East of England Broadband Network (Company Registration No. 04649057)