''Gagea bohemica'', the early star-of-Bethlehem or Radnor lily, is a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the lily family. It is sometimes referred to as the Welsh Star-of-Bethlehem. ''Gagea bohemica'' is widespread across central and southern

as well as in northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Its range stretches from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

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.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, ''Gagea bohemica''
/ref> Within the UK, specimens have been discovered at a single site in the Welsh county of

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

, the only location in the United Kingdom from which it has been reported, and the plant has been adopted as the

county flower In 2002 Plantlife conducted a "County Flowers" public survey to assign flowers to each of the counties of the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The results of this campaign designated a single plant species to a "county or metropolitan area" in ...

. As its name suggests, the early star-of-Bethlehem blooms earlier than most other species of ''

Gagea ''Gagea'' is a large genus of spring flowers in the lily family. It is found primarily in Eurasia with a few species extending into North Africa and one species ('' Gagea serotina'') in North America. The genus is named after the English na ...

'', 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

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s; they are about 1½ cm in diameter. It grows mainly on dry

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

.Davies, P., & Gibbons, B. (1993). ''Field guide to wild flowers of southern Europe''. Marlborough: Crowood.

References

External links

British Wild Plant: ''Gagea bohemica'' Radnor Lily
photos plus locality info of Welsh populations
First Nature, ''Gagea bohemica'' – Radnor Lily – Early Star-of-Bethlehem – (Liliaceae) Czech Botany, ''Gagea bohemica'', Early Star-of-Bethlehem
in English, with photos
Tela Botanica
in French with photos, distribution maps, etc. {{Authority control bohemica Plants described in 1776 Flora of Europe