Ornithogalum - curious
John Grimshaw (Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:14:58 PDT)

JIm Waddick asked about non-white Ornithogalum.

The one that springs immediately to mind is O. pyrenaicum, which has pale
greenish yellow flowers, with darker green midribs on the segments. It is
native in western Europe including southern England, where it is known as
Bath Asparagus as the long racemes were harvested in bud for culinary
purposes in the area around the town of Bath.

It is no great beauty, but a curious and harmless plant to have in the
garden.

There are similarly coloured Ornithogala in South Africa, one that I'm
familiar with being O. secundum from Namaqualand, but it is very
insignificant compared with the glorious orange and yellow species Jim
mentioned.

John Grimshaw

Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP

Tel. 01242 870567

COLESBOURNE PARK OPEN DAYS 2007
Easter Monday 9 April, Arboretum Weekend 15-16 September
Gates open 1pm, last entry 4 pm
website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Waddick" <jwaddick@kc.rr.com>