These little guys are about 4-6″ tall. Their leaves look like slightly thicker blades of dark green grass that sometimes have a light colored stripe down the middle. The bulbs are whitish-yellowish, and about the size of a pea but more of a teardrop shape. You can hardly dig a shovel of soil anywhere in the yard without running into at least one of these bulbs. Fortunately they don’t get very big, are gone before too long and aren’t a problem for me.
I did some digging on the net and I believe this is an Ornithogalum umbellatum aka Star of Bethlehem. A member of the Hyacinth or Lily family depending on who you ask. According to all but once source I found, this plant is poisonous, possibly (though rarely) fatal. Something to keep in mind if you have small children or grazing animals.
4 responses so far ↓
1 jenn // Apr 23, 2006 at 9:31 am
I’d say Star of Bethlehem, too.
Tends to be ‘weedy’ whereever it grows, but what a beautiful weed.
2 M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) // Apr 23, 2006 at 7:50 pm
I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen them.Wow! They’re beautiful. They look sort of like a cross between a rainlily and a white daffodil. I wonder if they grow here…
3 kerry // Apr 25, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Jenn
Yes I don’t mind them. I’ve read where they can be invasive in some areas but they would have to get pretty thick to be a problem for me.
M.
According to the USDA they do appear to grow in TX
I did a google search and it looks like most sources place this plant in the Lily family which makes more sense to me. I am not up on the naming game, was this one switched into/out of the Lily or Hyacinth family or did someone on Dave’s Garden get it wrong?
4 Sara // Apr 4, 2007 at 10:39 am
I think they could also be paper whites, a member of the daffodil family.
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