Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum), a genus of bulbous-rooted plants of the natural order Liliaceæ, nearly allied to Squills and Hyacinths.
The species are pretty numerous, natives almost exclusively of the eastern hemisphere, many of them of the Cape of Good Hope, and some of the south of Europe. The Common Star of Bethlehem (O. umbellatum), a native of France, Switzerland, Germany, the Levant, &c., is very common in flower-gardens. Its flowers are large, six to nine, in a corymbose raceme, white and somewhat fragrant. Gagea lutea, formerly O. luteum, with yellow flowers, is found in some parts of Britain in woods and pastures.