Gagea bohemica is widespread across central and southern Europe as well as in northern Africa and the Middle East.

Its range stretches from the United Kingdom to Morocco to Lebanon to Ukraine.

[1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Within the UK, specimens have been discovered at a single site in the Welsh county of Radnorshire, the only location in the United Kingdom from which it has been reported, and the plant has been adopted as the county flower.

[11] As its name suggests, the early star-of-Bethlehem blooms earlier than most other species of Gagea, and is usually found in flower from January to March or April.

This belongs to the same genus but it is a less vigorous plant, growing to a height of 2–6 cm and normally having just a single pair of twisting, thread-like basal leaves, with one or two pairs of lanceolate leaves, perhaps 1 cm wide, just below the flowers.