Monday, April 22, 2024

White on White


In this area, a lot of farmland has been converted to housing, including the development where I live.  Near the development, there's a field that hasn't undergone that change, but the township installed a blacktop road through it a year or so ago, and since then it has been left unplanted.   

I drove by it a few days ago and saw these flowers standing alone in the fallow field.  An image search identifies them as Ornithogalum nutans, more commonly known as Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem.  The text at the link calls it "charming and underused", but soon after warns that "it is considered an invasive species in ten Eastern USA states...", including this one.

Besides that, another source reports that it is toxic to dogs, cats, horses, and humans, and is extremely difficult to get rid of due to the depth of its roots.  That's a lot to lay on a pretty little volunteer flower.

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