Ornithogalum comosum L.

Posted byTrajche DimitrovskiPosted inAsparagaceae, Plant families

Taxonomy: Fam. Asparagaceae// Genus: Ornithogalum/ Species: Ornithogalum comosum L.

The taxonomic classification is given according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (Raab-Straube, 2022+).

Determined according to the botanical key provided by Zahariadi (1980 in Tutin et al.).

Lifeform: Bulbous perennial. Geophyte according to the  Raunkiær system.

Distribution:  Native from Central and Southeast Europe to Türkiye according to the distribution information provided by the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew); Central and Southeast Europe to the Mediterranean according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (Raab-Straube, 2022+).

Habitat: Found in open dry habitats- pastures, rocky terrains, sparse bushland.

Flowering period: Spring to early summer (MAY, JUN).

Locality: hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani. Date: 24.05.2021.

Ornithogalum comosum – habitat. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit in habitat. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit in habitat. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – developing inflorescence. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers and flower buds. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers and flower buds. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers: outside of perianth segments with green stripe. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers: outside of perianth segments with green stripe. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – plant base, most of the leaves are withered at anthesis. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – adaxial side of leaf. Leaves are glaucous, glabrous of the surface and ciliate on the margins. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – abaxial side of leaf. Leaves are glaucous, glabrous of the surface and ciliate on the margins. Osogovo, hills between the villages of Beli and Nivichani, 24.05.2021. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: village of Tursko Rudari. Date: 11.05.2024.

Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – habit. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence with flowers and bracts. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flowers. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flower. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flower. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – flower. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – spent flower. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – scape and pedicel. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – inflorescence with developing capsules. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – leaf. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – leaf. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – bulb. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – bulb. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.
Ornithogalum comosum – bulb. Osogovo, villages of Tursko Rudari, 11.05.2024. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Ornithogalum comosum L. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:539137-1 [Accessed 28.03.2026].

Ornithogalum comosum. Raab-Straube, E. von 2022+: Asparagaceae. – In: Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published at https://europlusmed.org/. https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/94f71470-0b17-4a99-b8a3-24fd47a0ddda [Accessed 28.03.2026].

Ornithogalum comosum. The Euro+Med PlantBase. Source: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (2010), copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameCache=Ornithogalum%20comosum&PTRefFk=8000000 [Accessed 26.05.2021].

Zahariadi, C. 1980. Ornithogalum L. Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 5. Alismataceae to Orchidaceae (Monocotyledones). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 35–40.

Last update: 28.03.2026.