Snowdrops Galanthus nivalis in February at Crathes Castle Woods Aberdeenshire Grampian Region Scotland UK GFL 1236
Snowdrop is the common name for members of the genus Galanthus, a small genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae; snowdrops are among the first bulbs to bloom in spring, although certain species flower in late autumn and winter. All species of Galanthus are perennial, herbaceous plants which grow from bulbs. Each bulb generally produces just two or three linear leaves and an erect, leafless scape (flowering stalk), which bears at the top a pair of bract-like spathe valves joined by a papery membrane. From between them emerges a solitary, pendulous, bell-shaped white flower, held on a slender pedicel. Snowdrops are sometimes confused with their relatives, snowflakes, which are Leucojum and Acis species Galanthus nivalis is the best-known and most widespread representative of the genus Galanthus. It is native to a large area of Europe, stretching from Spain in the west, through France and Germany to Poland in the north, Italy, Greece and Turkey, and eastwards to Armenia and the Ukraine. It has been introduced and is widely naturalised elsewhere. Although it is often thought of as a British native wild flower, or to have been brought to the British Isles by the Romans, it was probably introduced around the early sixteenth century. Most other Galanthus species are from the eastern Mediterranean, though several are found in South Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Galanthus fosteri comes from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and maybe Israel Some snowdrop species are threatened in their wild habitats, and in most countries it is now illegal to collect bulbs from the wild. Under CITES regulations, international trade in any quantity of Galanthus, whether bulbs, live plants or even dead ones, is illegal without a CITES permit. GFL 1236
Size: 6053px × 4050px
Location: Crathes Castle Woods Aberdeenshire Grampian Region Scotland UK
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., 7–15, alpinus, amaryllidaceae, angiosperm, angustifolius, april, asparagales, botanical, botany, bulbs, carpet, cilicicus, clumps, cm, common, cultivated, elwesii, family, flora, flowering, flowers, fosteri, galanthus, garden, gardening, gardens, genus, gracilis, grows, harbinger, hedgerows, horticulture, ikariae, indicator, january, koenenianus, krasnovii, lagodechianus, leafy, leaves, monocots, national, nivalis, northern, open, order, park, parks, peshmenii, plants, platyphyllus, plicatus, reginae-olgae, rizehensis, scotland, snowdrop, snowdrops, species, spring, springtime, tall, temperate, transcaucasicus, trojanus, trust, woodland, woods, woronowii, zone
