Ornithogalum thyrsoides

Ornithogalum thyrsoides is a bulbous plant species that is endemic to the Cape Province in South Africa. It is also known by the common names of chinkerinchee or chincherinchee, star-of-Bethlehem or wonder-flower. It produces long-lasting flowers prized as cut flowers.

It is perennial, attaining 20 to 50 cm in height, becoming dormant during winter. It produces some half-a-dozen fleshy leaves which die after flowering - the leaves being some 15 to 30 cm in length and 0.5 to 1.5 cm in width, lanceolate, smooth and soft-textured. The flowers are in a compact raceme of some 30-50 or in a loose corymb of 5-20 flowers. The flowers are bowl-shaped with green bracts of approximate pedicel length. Flowers are white to creamy-white, with brown or green centres fading with age. They are seen from October to February, and are phototropic. The spindle-shaped capsular fruit holds black, shiny seeds of diverse shapes.