Ornithogalum

Ornithogalum is a genus of plants that belongs to the family Hyacinthaceae. This genus has many species but is practically unknown in cultivation except for the more charismatic yellow and orange species. Apart from these colorful ones, there are other striking species in Group C (see below) with small compact plants with rather large flowers which are excellent for pot cultivation. All species have flowers with a silky texture that is very attractive.

Alberto Castillo divides the genus into 3 distinct cultivation groups:
A) Tender autumn-winter-spring growers from southwestern South Africa. They are mostly spring bloomers. They demand intense sunlight and rather frost free conditions. They require a dry summer dormancy.
B) Tender spring-summer-autumn growers from hot subtropical to tropical Africa. They are mostly late spring/summer bloomers. Most demand intense sunlight and frost free to hot conditions. They require a dry winter dormancy.
C) Hardy to very hardy autumn-winter-spring growers from the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. They are mostly spring bloomers. They demand good sunlight and cool growing conditions.

Cameron McMaster has provided interesting information mostly about the South African species in an article he wrote for Farmer's Weekly in 2008.

The taxonomy of this genus has gone through some major changes in 5 years. Manning et al. 2004 propose sinking Albuca, Dipcadi, Galtonia, Neopatersonia, and Pseudogaltonia into Ornithogalum. Manning et al. 2009 using four plastid DNA regions classified the 2004 Ornithogalum into 3 clades. Clade A is recognized as the genus Albuca. Clade B comprises the genera Dipcadi and Pseudogaltonia. Clade C is the genus Ornithogalum and includes Galtonia and Neopatersonia. Clade A and Clade C are differentiated as follows: Clade A (Albuca) has a well-defined green or brownish median longitudinal band on the outer surface of each tepal and a concentration of 3-5 veins along the midline. Clade C (Ornithogalum) has uniformly colored tepals with at the most a narrow or indistinct darker band without the veins. This means that species that were previously considered to belong in Ornithogalum are now included in Albuca. We will be conforming to these changes, but keeping the synonyms as plants will still be found in books and in the trade under their previous names. A common name for a number of species is 'Star of Bethlehem'.

Fresh seeds of this genus are often very easy to germinate. South African species often have a short viability time of about 6 months to a year. Seeds of some species such as O. dubium are tiny and dust-like. In such cases, they should be sown in a well-drained mix of 1:1 organic:inorganic mix with the top being a fine mix so that the tiny seedlings will not be shaded out by mix particles. Otherwise, sow regular sized seeds normally in the same mix as above.


For more photos and information about the species select the appropriate wiki page:

or click on the name in the table below:


Ornithogalum species
Ornithogalum adseptentrionesvergentulum, Uluwehi Knecht [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum adseptentrionesvergentulum
Albuca concordiana, Calvinia, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum apertum
Ornithogalum arabicum, Johannes-Ulrich Urban [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum arabicum
Ornitogalum balansae, Oron Peri [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum balansae
Ornithogalum candicans, Satansnek, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum candicans
Albuca bracteata, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum caudatum
Ornithogalum thyrsoides, Rimmer de Vries [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum ceresianum
Ornithogalum comptonii, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum comptonii
Albuca concordiana, Calvinia, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum concordianum
Ornithogalum conicum, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum conicum
Ornithogalum constrictum, Hans Joschko [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum constrictum
Ornithogalum convallarioides, Alessandro Marinello [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum convallarioides
Albuca dilucula, Namaqualand, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum diluculum
Ornithogalum dubium, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum dubium
Ornithogalum fimbriatum, Jane McGary [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum fimbriatum
Ornithogalum fimbrimarginatum, Ed Mertz [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum fimbrimarginatum
Ornithogalum graminifolium, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum graminifolium
Ornithogalum hispidum, Fairfield, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum hispidum
Ornithogalum juncifolium, Gaika's Kop, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum juncifolium
Ornithogalum lanceolatum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum lanceolatum
Ornithogalum lithopsoides, by Jeffs, bulbesetpots, Flickr [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum lithopsoides
Albuca bracteata, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum longibracteatum
Ornithogalum maculatum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum maculatum
Ornithogalum magnum, Kathleen Sayce [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum magnum
Ornithogalum montanum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum montanum
Ornithogalum multifolium, Rod Saunders [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum multifolium
Ornithogalum narbonense, Shlomit Heymann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum narbonense
Ornithogalum neopatersonia, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum neopatersonia
Ornithogalum nutans, Jim McKenney [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum nutans
Ornithogalum oligophyllum, Oron Peri [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum oligophyllum
Albuca osmynella, Monica Swartz [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum osmynellum
Ornithogalum paludosum, Sentinel Peak, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum paludosum
Ornithogalum polyphyllum, Spoegrivier, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum polyphyllum
Ornithogalum ponticum, Kathleen Sayce [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum ponticum
Ornithogalum pruinosum, Kamieskroon, Bob Rutemoeller [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum pruinosum
Albuca pulchra, Rod Saunders [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum pulchrum
Ornithogalum_regale, Nhu Nguyen [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum regale
Ornithogalum reverchonii, Jane McGary [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum reverchonii
Ornithogalum rupestre, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum rupestre
Ornithogalum sardienii, Jan and Anne Lise Schutte-Vlok [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum sardienii
Ornithogalum sandersiae, Arnold Trachtenberg [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum saundersiae
Albuca secunda, Namaqualand, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum secundum
Ornithogalum sigmoideum, Oron Peri [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum sigmoideum
Ornithogalum sintenisii, Jane McGary [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum sintenisii
Ornithogalum sp., Naude's Nek, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum spp.
Albuca suaveolens, Nieuwoudtville, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum suaveolens
Ornithogalum synanthiifolium, Andriesberg, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum synanthifolium
Albuca virens, Somerset East, Cameron McMaster [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum tenuifolium
Ornithogalum thyrsoides, Alan Horstmann [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum thyrsoides
Ornithogalum trichophyllum, Oron Peri [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum trichophyllum
Ornithogalum umbellatum, Angelo Porcelli [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum umbellatum
Albuca unifolia, Kamieskroon, John Grimshaw [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
*Ornithogalum unifolium
Ornithogalum viridiflorum, Naude's Nek, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum viridiflorum
Ornithogalum xanthochlorum, Andrew Harvie [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Ornithogalum xanthochlorum
* = synonym

Related genera can be found on the following wiki pages:
Albuca index - Albuca a-f - Albuca g-p - Albuca r-z - Dipcadi - Galtonia - Neopatersonia - Pseudogaltonia


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