Gagea bohemica

Gagea bohemica, the early star-of-Bethlehem or Radnor lily, is a European and Mediterranean species of flowering plant in the lily family.[1][2] It is sometimes referred to as the Welsh Star-of-Bethlehem.

Gagea bohemica
Early Star-of-Bethlehem
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Tribe: Lilieae
Genus: Gagea
Species:
G. bohemica
Binomial name
Gagea bohemica
(Zauschn.) Schult. & Schult.f.
Synonyms[1]

Gagea bohemica is widespread across and central and southern Europe as well as in northern Africa and the Middle East. Its range stretches from the United Kingdom to Morocco to Lebanon to Ukraine.[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Within the UK, specimens have been discovered at a single site in the Welsh county of Radnorshire, the only location in the United Kingdom from which it has been reported, and the plant has been adopted as the county flower.[11]

As its name suggests, the Early Star-of-Bethlehem blooms earlier than most other species of Gagea, and is usually found in flower from January to March or April. Its flowers are very similar to those of the Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem. This belongs to the same genus but it is a less vigorous plant, growing to a height of 2–6 cm and normally having just a single pair of twisting, thread-like basal leaves, with one or two pairs of lanceolate leaves, perhaps 1 cm wide, just below the flowers. The flowers, of which there are usually no more than four on each plant, are yellow and have six petals; they are about 1½ cm in diameter. It grows mainly on dry grassland.[12]

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Gagea bohemica
  2. Altervista Flora Italiana, Cipollaccio giallo di Boemia Gagea bohemica (Zauschn.) Schult. & Schult. f.
  3. Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1984). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 8: 1-632. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
  4. Peruzzi, L. & Gargano, D. (2005). Distribuzione del genere Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae) in Calabria. Informatore Botanico Italiano 37: 1117-1124.
  5. Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) (2006). Conspectus Florae Caucasi 2: 1-466. Editio Universitatis Petropolitanae.
  6. Levichev, I.G. (2006). A review of the Gagea (Liliaceae) species in the flora of Caucasus. Botanicheskii Zhurnal. Moscow & Leningrad 91: 917-951.
  7. Tison, J.M. (2009). An update of the genus Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae) in the Iberian peninsula. Lagascalia 29: 7-22.
  8. Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  9. Barina, Z., Pifko, D., Pintér, B. & Bräuchler, C. (2010). News from the early spring flora of Albania. Acta Botanica Hungarica 52: 239-245.
  10. Peruzzi, L., Gestri, G. & Pierini, B. (2011). Distribution of the genus Gagea (Liliaceae) in Sardinia. Flora Mediterranea 21: 261-272.
  11. Fitter, R., Fitter, A., & Blamey, M. (1996). Wild flowers of Britain and northern Europe, 5th edn. London: Harper/Collins. ISBN 0-00-220062-7
  12. Davies, P., & Gibbons, B. (1993). Field guide to wild flowers of southern Europe. Marlborough: Crowood. ISBN 1-85223-659-0
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