 The name star-of-Bethlehem is shared by a number of species of "Ornithogalum", due to the white stellate flowers, and the folklore relating the flower to the biblical star-of-Bethlehem ("see In popular culture").A native of most of Europe, North Africa and western Asia, "Ornithogalum umbellatum" has been adopted as an ornamental garden plant from where it has escaped and naturalised widely in North America, where it is considered an aggressive noxious weed of lawns, gardens and no-till agricultural land, which can be difficult to eradicate.In Europe its range extends from Ireland and Portugal in the west, Italy in the south, north to parts of France and east to Turkey and the Levant.