# Gagea bohemica

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***Gagea bohemica***, the **early star-of-Bethlehem** or **Radnor lily**, is a [European](/source/Europe) and [Mediterranean](/source/Mediterranean) species of [flowering plant](/source/Flowering_plant) in the [lily family](/source/Liliaceae).[1][2] It is sometimes referred to as the **Welsh Star-of-Bethlehem**.

*Gagea bohemica* is widespread across central and southern [Europe](/source/Europe) as well as in northern [Africa](/source/North_Africa) and the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East). Its range stretches from the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) to [Morocco](/source/Morocco) to [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon) to [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine).[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Within the UK, specimens have been discovered at a single site in the [Welsh](/source/Wales) county of [Radnorshire](/source/Radnorshire), the [only location in the United Kingdom](/source/List_of_species_occurring_in_Britain_at_just_a_single_location) from which it has been reported, and the plant has been adopted as the [county flower](/source/County_flowers_of_the_United_Kingdom).[11]

As its name suggests, the early star-of-Bethlehem blooms earlier than most other species of *[Gagea](/source/Gagea)*, 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](/source/Gagea_lutea). 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 [petals](/source/Petal); they are about 1½ cm in diameter. It grows mainly on dry [grassland](/source/Grassland).[12]

## References

1. [Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, *Gagea bohemica*](http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=307157)

1. [Altervista Flora Italiana, Cipollaccio giallo di Boemia Gagea bohemica (Zauschn.) Schult. & Schult. f.](http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=gagea+bohemica)

1. Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1984). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 8: 1-632. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

1. Peruzzi, L. & Gargano, D. (2005). Distribuzione del genere *Gagea* Salisb. (Liliaceae) in Calabria. Informatore Botanico Italiano 37: 1117-1124.

1. Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) (2006). Conspectus Florae Caucasi 2: 1-466. Editio Universitatis Petropolitanae.

1. Levichev, I.G. (2006). A review of the *Gagea* (Liliaceae) species in the flora of Caucasus. Botanicheskii Zhurnal. Moscow & Leningrad 91: 917-951.

1. Tison, J.M. (2009). An update of the genus *Gagea* Salisb. (Liliaceae) in the Iberian peninsula. Lagascalia 29: 7-22.

1. Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.

1. Barina, Z., Pifko, D., Pintér, B. & Bräuchler, C. (2010). News from the early spring flora of Albania. Acta Botanica Hungarica 52: 239-245.

1. Peruzzi, L., Gestri, G. & Pierini, B. (2011). Distribution of the genus *Gagea* (Liliaceae) in Sardinia. Flora Mediterranea 21: 261-272.

1. Fitter, R., Fitter, A., & Blamey, M. (1996). *Wild flowers of Britain and northern Europe*, 5th edn. London: Harper/Collins. ISBN 0-00-220062-7

1. Davies, P., & Gibbons, B. (1993). *Field guide to wild flowers of southern Europe*. Marlborough: Crowood. ISBN 1-85223-659-0

## External links

- [British Wild Plant: *Gagea bohemica* Radnor Lily](http://www.ukwildflowers.com/Web_pages/gagea_bohemica_radnor_lily.htm) photos plus locality info of Welsh populations
- [First Nature, *Gagea bohemica* – Radnor Lily – Early Star-of-Bethlehem – (Liliaceae)](http://www.first-nature.com/flowers/gagea-bohemica.php)
- [Czech Botany, *Gagea bohemica*, Early Star-of-Bethlehem](http://botany.cz/en/gagea-bohemica/) in English, with photos
- [Tela Botanica](http://www.tela-botanica.org/bdtfx-nn-28606-synthese) in French with photos, distribution maps, etc.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gagea bohemica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagea_bohemica) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagea_bohemica?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.