Star of Bethlehem is an introduced, nonnative plant that makes clusters of bright white flowers in the spring. It reproduces prolifically by forming a multitude of bulbs underground.
The flowers are in clusters at the tips of stems to 1 foot tall. The 3 sepals and 3 petals (when they're so similar, they're collectively called tepals) form an attractive star, often 3-cornered, bright white on the upper surface, with green lines on the underside.
Blooms April–June.
The leaves are grasslike, succulent, very dark green, rolled inward, with a white center vein. When the weather starts getting hot, the leaves turn yellow and start to wither away.
Grows from bulbs, which are produced at an amazing rate.
Similar species: A number of other plants might be mistaken for star of Bethlehem.
- Crocuses, also native to Eurasia, also commonly appear in people's yards in early spring, and they, too, have grasslike leaves with a whitish stripe down the center. But the flowers are very different.
- Our native false garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) is also similar, but it usually has yellowish flowers with pointier petals.
Height: to 1 foot.
Statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Found in a variety of situations, including pastures, bottomland and upland forests, roadsides, suburban lawns, and disturbed areas. You might find it in the woods, persisting at old home sites. It is becoming relatively common on gravel bars and alluvial soils along many of our streams and rivers. A native of Eurasia and an aggressive colonizer, it forms dense clumps of bulbs.
Status
A nonnative plant originally brought to North America as a garden ornamental. Usually considered weedy. This plant is considered invasive in many states and should not be planted in the Midwest.
Human Connections
All parts of this plant are poisonous to both humans and to animals. Don't confuse this plant with wild onion.
Originally introduced to North America as an ornamental, it easily escapes cultivation, and it can become a lawn weed. Because it has invasive tendencies, it is best not to cultivate it.
If you have a potted spider plant (or airplane plant, Chlorophytum comosum), take at look at its flowers — they are very similar! It’s in the same family.
Ecosystem Connections
This plant was known to have escaped cultivation in Missouri as early as the 1830s. In our state, it apparently can’t reproduce by seed, but it does spread very prolifically by bulb division.
Also, the bulbs float in stream water and plants growing along streams; during floods, they can be eroded out of the soil. In this way, they easily become established along waterways.
People also accidentally transplant them when they move soil.
Apparently, few Missouri animals (whether vertebrates or invertebrates) seem to eat this toxic plant, meaning that it contributes little to our native ecosystems. Plants that don't feed insects don't play a role in feeding songbirds and other animals that eat insects.
Botanists have long debated the relationships among the plants traditionally considered "lilies." Molecular analysis has showed this plant and many of its relatives should be removed from the lily family and placed in a family called the Asparagaceae, named for the asparagus genus.
