# Help me identify this small white flower **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465 "2009-02-18T23:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/1 "2009-02-18T23:08:50Z")
Reading throught [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=506876) thread concernting Star of Bethlehem, I got to wondering if a small flower which appears in our fields is the same plant. I don’t think it is, but I also don’t know what it is. [Here](http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/NinetyWt/100_0254.jpg) is a photo of a typical clump. The flowers themeselves are about the width of my fingertip. The plants are [very](http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/NinetyWt/100_0249.jpg) [plentiful](http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/NinetyWt/100_0250.jpg) at this time of year, but disappear later as the weather gets hot. The tall grass which will become hay eventually shades them out, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/2 "2009-02-18T23:40:41Z")
I’m going to go with [stargrass](http://www.shortcourses.com/naturelog/yellow-star-grass-01.jpg). Not a color match, but maybe there are enough variations in the wild and yours are a regional color? Don’t know nuthin’ 'bout flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/3 "2009-02-18T23:47:58Z")
Yup, looks like good ol’ [S-o-B](http://www.dclunie.com/eshelton/wildflow/wildind.html) as far as I can tell. Does it correspond to [this description](http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/starbeth.htm)? > [@](#): > > This introduced perennial plant consists of a rosette of basal leaves spanning about 1’ across. These linear leaves are about 6-12" long and ¼" across. They curve upward from the base and bend downward around the middle. There is often a white stripe in the middle of each leaf, which has smooth margins and parallel venation. From the center of the rosette, there develops one or more flowering stalks about 6-9" tall. Each stalk terminates in a cyme-like raceme of white flowers. This raceme is rather short and spreading. The lower pedicels are 1-3" long, while the upper pedicels are somewhat shorter. Both the basal leaves and flowering stalks are hairless. Each flower is about 1" across when fully open, consisting of 6 white tepals, 6 stamens, and a single pistil. Each tepal is lanceolate-oblong; there is a green stripe along its outer side. A stamen has a yellow or light brown anther at its apex, and a white filament underneath. This filament is lanceolate or narrowly triangular in shape (tapering at the top), which is a distinctive characteristic for this species. The blooming period occurs during the late spring and lasts about 2 weeks. There is a pleasant floral scent. The flowers open during the morning and usually close by noon. Each flower is replaced by a 3-celled seed capsule containing several black seeds. The root system consists of a bulb about 1" long that is ovoid. This plant reproduces by its seeds and vegetative offsets (primarily the latter). It often forms dense colonies that can exclude other species during the spring. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/4 "2009-02-19T04:19:33Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Does it correspond to [this description](http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/starbeth.htm)? Not quite. This plant is smaller than what is described there: the clumps are about 4" across, rather than one foot across; the stalks are closer to 4" than 6"; the flowers are not 1" across (the specimen I picked today has flowers approximately 0.7" across). It does have six petals and six stamens. My hubby remembers always seeing it blooming in the spring. They used to run a dairy farm here and the cows were permitted to eat them. **SeaDragonTatoo** , the shape of the flowers is similar but the leaves are not taller than the flower stem. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/5 "2009-02-19T12:22:31Z")
I don’t believe they are Star of Bethlehem. I’m doing a quick guess of some type of narcissus. The structures of the plants look like paper white narcissus. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/6 "2009-02-19T12:50:01Z")
I see there are more variations in Star of Bethlehem than I thought. I did eventually find the structure I thought disqualified it as such. I never found a matching picture for the flowers though. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/7 "2009-02-19T16:46:36Z")
Have you ever pulled one up, and found a sort of bulb? My dad used to pull up flowers like these, and there would be a slender bulb at the root, something like a green onion. He’d wash the bulbs and eat them, raw. He doesn’t do much outside walking these days, so he probably doesn’t do that any longer. I’ve always been under the impression that they’re some sort of allium, though. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/8 "2009-02-19T17:04:33Z")
If it smells like onion then it’s not Star of Bethlehem. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/9 "2009-02-19T17:40:03Z")
I’d say a member of the allium family based on the appearance of the unopened flower buds, but I’m guessing. I don’t think the structure of the open flowers much resembles the pics of SoB you linked (imho) ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/10 "2009-02-19T17:54:57Z")
Dug a clump up - they do have some tiny bulbs, but no onion smell. **HD** , it also reminds me of paperwhites but there’s no trumpet-shaped part in the center of the flower. The S o B descriptions all talk about a slender thread structure which is triangular in cross-section under the pistil. These are so tiny that I can’t see that - maybe I’ll take one to work and look at it under the magnifier. They also lack the green stripe on the back of the petals which is apparently a hallmark of S o B. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/11 "2009-02-24T12:42:21Z")
Seeing as how my daughter presented me with a tiny fist of these last week, I sent your url to a local site my nurseryman frequents. He calls them “wild onion”, which a google confirms to be… > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’ve always been under the impression that they’re some sort of allium, though. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/12 "2009-02-24T13:54:21Z")
Thanks **lieu**! I figured they were some kind of native wildflower, from hubby’s testimony about them being on the farm back in the 50’s. These must be very mild if they let the milk cows eat them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/13 "2009-02-24T21:35:46Z")
Well, **NinetyWt** , he’s done some more research, thinks wild onion usually has a little pink to it and advises this is actually [Crow Poison (Nothoscordum bivalve)](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/149/430833132_49591acbf2.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/56398280%40N00/430833132&usg=__i8ppVqqySFt99MWLm7900ctKXMk=&h=424&w=500&sz=66&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=QRbb9jWm1Kx6-M:&tbnh=110&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCrow%2BPoison%2B(Nothoscordum%2Bbivalve)%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG). I’ve looked at both in google images and part of the problem appears to be they’re so similar sometimes they’re misidentified. See what you think since you’ve got an upclose view. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/14 "2009-02-26T18:52:15Z")
Finally I had time to double-check. Yes, that looks very much like it! Thank you **lieu**. Thank your friend for me too. Interesting name (and history). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/15 "2009-02-26T19:00:52Z")
Now we have an answer. It is a very pretty flower, and I had to keep returning to see what it was. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/16 "2009-02-26T19:22:27Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > Now we have an answer. It is a very pretty flower, and I had to keep returning to see what it was. In a perfect world, you could come see it in person, when you get tired of the cold weather up there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-small-white-flower/486465/17 "2009-02-26T21:28:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Well, NinetyWt, he’s done some more research, thinks wild onion usually has a little pink to it and advises this is actually Crow Poison (Nothoscordum bivalve). Cool! (It’s AKA “false garlic”, apparently.) So **Ninety** , are you finding lots of dead crows in that field? 😛 (Seriously, it’s said that the Cherokee made a poison out of it which they put into crow bait: voila, no more crows eating the corn crop.)