Snowdrop
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The Common Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) is the best-known representative of a small genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae that are the first bulbs to bloom in spring.
All species of Galanthus have bulbs, linear leaves, and erect flowering stalks, destitute of leaves but bearing at the top a solitary pendulous bell-shaped flower. This species grows 15cm tall, flowering in January or February in the northern temperate zone. The white flower has six petals, the outer three segments being larger and more convex than the inner series. The six anthers open by pores or short slits. The ovary is three-celled, ripening into a three-celled capsule. (Snowdrops should not be confused with their relatives Snowflakes, Leucojum species; Leucojums are much larger and flower in spring ? or early summer, depending on the species ? with all six petals in the flower the same size, though it should be noted that some "poculiform" (slipper-shaped) Galanthus can have inner segments similar in length to the outer ones.)
Propagation is by offsets removed when the plants are at rest, immediately after the leaves have withered; or by seeds sown either when ripe, or in spring. Professional growers and keen amateurs also use such methods as "twin-scaling" to increase the stock of choice varieties quickly. Double forms such as Galanthus nivalis Flore Pleno may be less attractive to the eye of the purist. There are numerous cultivars (cultivated varieties), single and double, differing particularly in the size and markings of the flower, the period of flowering, and other characteristics of interest to keen (even fanatical) collectors known as "galanthophiles".
Illustration_Galanthus_nivalis0.jpg
Other notable species:
- the Crimean snowdrop, Galanthus plicatus, 30 cm tall, flowering January/March, white flowers, with broad leaves folded back at the edges
- the Giant snowdrop, Galanthus elwesii, a native of the Levant, 23 cm tall, flowering January/February, with large flowers, the three inner segments of which often have a much larger and more conspicuous green blotch (or blotches) than the more common kinds.
All the species are very graceful, and as universal favourites amply repay cultivation.