GALANTHUS NIVALIS. SNOWDROP.
GALANTHUS nivalis. Linn. S p .P l. p. 413. Huds. Angl. p. 140. Hort. Cliff, p. 134. Hort.
Ups. p. 73. Jacq. Austr. t. 330. Roy. Lugd. Bat. p. 35. Mill. Gard. Diet. With.
Bot. A rr. ed. 4. ml. 2. p. 324. Roth Germ. ml. 1. p. 144. ml. 2. p. 578.
Gem. p. 114. Ära. M B r it. ml. 1. p. 353. £>?§•/. ZoZ. Z. 19. Abbot Bedf. p. 73.
Dicks. Hort. Sicc. fasc. 6. n. 2. Willd. Sp. Pi. ml. 2. p. 28. Aston Hort. Kao.
ed. 1. ml. 1. p. 406. ed. 2. voZ. 2. p. 211. Redouté P i. Liliac. t. 200. Lamarck
Diet. ml. 2. p. 590. Z<wn. Illustr. t. 230. Lam. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 3. p. 234.
■ W .£/. GflZZ. 166. Scop. Cam. n. 391. Deslongch. Fl. Gall. ml. 1. ». 189.
&/n. PZ. wZ. 1. p. 349. Sturm Deutsch. Fl. M artyn M ill. Diet.
GALANTHUS uniflorus, petalis alternis cordatis. Hall. Hist. Helv. n. 1254.
NARCISSO-LEUCOJUM trifolium minus. Tourn. p. 387.
LEU CO JUM bulbosum trifolium minus. Bauh. Pin. p. 56. Dod. Cor.p. 200.
LEU CO JUM bulbosum minus -tripbyllon. J B auh. Hist. ml. 2. p. 591.
LEUCOJUM bulbosum præcox minus. Clus. H ist. ml. 1. ». 169.
LEU CO JUM bulbosum triphyllon. Dod. Pempt.p. 230.
LEUCONARCISSO-LIRION minimum. Lob. Ic. 123.
L EUCOJUM bulbosum minus præcox &c. Moris. 0.v. ml. 2. p. 364. sec. 4. t. 9 . f . 23.
’HPAITE AI'A. Remalm. Spec. p. 9 7 .t . 96.
Dut. Wittertje. Naakte tty fjes. Juffertjes in't hemd. Zomerzotjes. Fr. L a Galantim. Germ.
ochneetröpjchen. Schneeglöckchen. Schneeblume. Schneeflocken. Schmegallen. Schneegacken. Hor-
nungsblumchen. Hung. Hô-virâg. Gergely napi virag. Fejer Tavaszika, It. Galanto. Welsh.
JLinawL Lloch baban.
[N atuhal OliDEli. L ILIACEÆ, Tribus 3. NARCISSI, D e Cand. NARCISSI, Juss
NARCISSOIDEÆ, Vent. SPATIIACEÆ, L im ] P*;
G ew. Ch ar. Cor. hexapetak ; potaüo tribus interioribüs brevioribtis emarginatis. Sti^i
unicata, basi fibris nur
nplex.
Radix bulbosa, ovata, tuni«
instructa.
Folia plerumque bi- rarius trina, linearia, obtusa, glabra,
glauco-viridia, triquetro-plana, apicibus callosis,
albidis, basi membrana cylindracea, fusca, trun-
cata vel bifida vaginata.
Scapus solitarius, spithamæus, debilis, subcompressus,
striatus, nudus, uniflorus.
Spatha cylindracea, striata, membranacea, albida, hinc
lateraliter fissa, apice bifida.
Flos pedicellatus, nutans, subinodorus.
Petala sex, subcamosa, tria exteriora majora, patentia,
elliptica, concava, paululum undulata, alba ; in-
teriora, seu Nectaria, duplo minora, obeordata,
alba, extus, prppe apicem, macula viridi notata,
intus lineis viridibus pulcherrime striata.
Stamina ex apice Germinis,- petalis breviora, conni’
tia. Filame.nta brevissima.
Antueræ oblongo-lanceolatæ, flavæ, bilocular
poris duobus déhiscentes.
Germen inferne oblongum, truncatum.
Stylus teres, subulatus, Stigmate simpli
Root bulbous, ovate, tunicated, at the base having numerous
fibres.
Leaves generally two, rarely three, linear, obtuse,
smooth, glaucous green, plane or slightly triangular,
having at the apices a white hardened swelling,
at the base a cylindrical, brown, truncate or
bifid, sbeathing membrane.
Scape solitary, a span high, weak, somewhat compressed,
striated, destitute of leaves, bearing one
flower.
Spatiie cylindrical, striate, membranaceous, white, on
one side cleft, at the apex bifid.
Flower pedicellate, nodding, nearly scentless.
Petals six, somewhat fleshy, the three exterior ones
the largest, patent, elliptical, concave, a little
waved, white; the interior or Nectaries half as
large, obcordate, white, externally, near the apex,
marked with a green spot, within beautifully
striated with green lines.
i- Stamens arising from the top of the Germen, shorter
than the petals. Filaments very short,
apice Anthers oblongo-lanceolate, yellow, two-celled, open--
ing at the extremity with two pores. ,
Germen below oblong, truncate,
j Style round, subulate, with the Stigma simple.
Capsula obovata, obtusa, (trilocularis, trivalvis, Sm.) Capsule obovate, obtuse (three-celled, three-valved
Sm.)
(Semina rotunda, Sm.) | (Seeds round, Sm.)
Fig. 1 Exterior petal. Fig. Interior, do. Fig. 3. Gt
I the pores at the extremity.
en and Stamens.
?ig. 6. Germen.
Fig. 4. Anther. Fig. 5. Anther
Fig. 7. Style.
The Galanthus nivalis is no less generally esteemed for the elegance and delicacy of its flowers than for their
early appearance, frequently unfolding, if there be a few mild days, towards the latter end o f January. In Fe-
bruaiy it is the pride and ornament of our gardens, where a double variety is usually cultivated, whose blossoms
are ol later appearance, expanding generally in the month of April, the season of flowering for the common variety
in Sweden. I t seems to be now universally admitted in the list of an English Flora, though perhaps originally
an outcast from a garden, having been found, first, I believe, by Mr. Ballard a t the foot of the Malvern hills
where no traces were perceptible either of building or garden; since that time, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire •
on the banks of the T e e s; about Blackwell and Conniscliffe in Anglesea; on sandy hills in Bedfordshire; about
Barnstaple; at Heaton Wood and in the most sequestered parts of Scott’s Wood Dean, in Northumberland ■ at
Y oxtord, Middleton, Westleton and Laxfield, in Suffolk; and in pastures near Kirkstal Abbey, on the banks of
the Skill near Ripon and Mackershaw woods in Yorkshire. Mr. Graves has found it in the Hop-grounds on both
sides of the road between Sibble and Castle Hedingham, Essex.
The flowers afford to the bees their earliest supply of honey in the spring, and the roots are supposed by Dr.
Harwin to possess a nutritious quality, as he found that on taking them up in the winter and boiling them they
had the insipid mucilaginous taste of the Orchis; whence he infers, that if cured in the same manner they would
most probably make good Salep. J
O f the genus but one species is known to exist. The genus is closely allied to Leucojum, from which it differs
in the unequal size of the petals.
Galanthus, from ydXa, lac, and &Aog, flos, is sufficiently expressive of the pure whiteness of the petals; but Rene-
aimi sname H^uyyeXia, from % ver, and iyytXog, nunoius, would have been more applicable.