Ornithogalum umbellatum L.
Star of Bethlehem

Duration:Perennial
Growth Habit:Forb/herb
Native Status:L48 I
Other Common Names:sleepydick
Symbol:ORUM


20180423 first blooms in east lawn
20180212 Continued eradication effort during lunch while watching Luigi roam. Still some coming up under cutdown trees and in the moss garden.
20180211 Dug up sprouting Ornithogalum umbellatum from orchard-to-be area
20170222 Lots of clumps behind the house, pushed through cardboard acting as weed barrier for walk. Several clumps in backyard. With this identification, will eradicate along the walk before mulching (instead of transplanting). Seems less nightmarish than the bittercress and chickweed.

No onion-like odor
leaves curl into tube, but not tubular like an onion. Pale line on the inside of the curve (plausibly the upper surface)


Leaves have a white stripe on upper surface & wither soon after flowering, per Wildflowers of Tennessee.
http://cses.auburn.edu/turfgrass-management/weed-identification/star-of-bethlehem/ (image of bulb structures looks VERY like the ones i pulled up)

A long green stripe on the underside of each petal helps to identify this plant as Star-of-Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum. You can see the green stripe in a few flower buds that are closed. (Click on photos to see closer view.)

Narrow leaves, each having a white midrib, might get a foot long, but they softly arch over forming a mound. All leaves are basal, and leaf margins are entire or toothless.

Alabama: Class C noxious weed
Connecticut: Potentially invasive
TN, KY: listed as weed
Lesser Threat