Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem - Gagea lutea

Low to short, slender plant with a hairless stem. Basal leaf solitary, linear-lanceolate, flat, 5 to 12 mm broad, generally yellowish green. Stem leaves 2 opposite or sub opposite, lanceolate, margin hairy. Flowers 7, yellow, 15 to 25 mm in an umbel like cluster, each tepal with a band of green on the back.

Records from this species should be confirmed by a County Recorder for botany.  It is very rare in VC55, and therefore a specimen should not be taken.  Take detailed field photos and submit to NatureSpot as soon as possible; and if you think you have found it in a new location, inform the County Recorder as soon you can. (RPR)

Damp grassland, scrub and open damp woods, especially on basic soils.

Flowers March to May.

Perennial.

Scattered localities, mainly in central and northern England and southern Scotland. Uncommon in southern England.

Very rare in Leicestershire and Rutland, found in only one site in recent years, and decreasing

It is listed on the current VC55 Rare Plant Register (Hall and Woodward 2022) as Locally Rare (i.e. present in less than 3 sites)