Spring starflower
Common Name:
spring starflower
Scientific Name:
Ipheion uniflorum
Family:
Alliaceae
Lifecycle:
Perennial
Features
Bulb-like perennial plant species. Clumping growth habit. Leaves green with linear venation. Leaf tip rounded. Leaf not having prominent mid-rib. Flowers white, six petals (flower can often lose one petal, thus appearing to have only five petals), on solitary stalks. Flowers three to four cm in diameter. On the back side of flower petals, each petal has a purple vein from base to tip.
Description
Non-grass monocot similar to star-of-Bethlehem. Large white flower differentiates this species from other grass-like plants. Growth in southeastern U.S. is very ephemeral, with the plant only seemingly present for four to six weeks in February to March. Most practitioners do not notice this species until flowering occurs in late February to early March.