Greater Star of Bethlehem Ornithogalum umbellatum (Fr. Dame d'onze heures).
Greater Star of Bethlehem is a bulb with pure white flowers. The French name refers to the way the flowers do not open until they are in full sun, and then close again each evening. The 6-8 leaves are long, narrow and grooved, with an obvious white stripe running along the groove. The starry white flowers, which appear from March to June, have a green stripe running down the middle of the underside of each petal, and are pollinated by insects.
The species can be found anywhere in France, in grassland, along roads and tracks, and amongst vines. It is native to central and southern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. Greater Star of Bethlehem likes poor clay soil that is low in humus.
In the Touraine Loire Valley it is not considered rare or threatened.
The plant is toxic, which is only a problem if you can't tell the difference between it and the much prized edible wild plant Ramsons (apparently it has been known...). Ramsons doesn't have the green stripe on the petals, the leaves are broad pointed ovals, it grows in damp woodland, and it pongs of garlic. But apart from that it's really hard to tell the difference...
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It is a lovely enough flower to have attracted the attention of the great Leonardo da Vinci, and there is a drawing of it in one of his notebooks.
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