 There has been considerable discussion as to the exact meaning of this term.In notes taken by Paul Dietrich Giseke from a lecture by Linnaeus it is suggested that this "Stercus Columbarum" was in fact the plant "Ornithogalum umbellatum", which grew abundantly in Palestine and "unde Anglis "Bethlem's Star" dicitur" (is known to the English as Bethlem's Star), the white colour of which resembled the excrement of birds, hence the name "lac Avium" (bird milk or "Ornithogalum"), and which was still eaten by the poor of that country.Culturally, the flower has been associated with purity and hope, atonement and reconciliation.