Common Snowdrop plants, galanthus nivalis, photograph by the Author.
Have
you ever seen a Common Snowdrop plant, galanthus
nivalis, or as it is sometimes also called, simply, a Snowdrop plant?
Common Snowdrop plants, galanthus nivalis, photograph by the Author.
Common
Snowdrops are among the first plants to flower each spring, often turning the
forest floor into a sea of small white flowers.
Originally from Europe, they have spread into Great Britain and the
eastern portions of both the United States and Canada, where they are
considered a naturalized plant.
The native range of the Common Snowdrop, galanthus nivalis, from United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services.
From Wikimedia, “Figure 49 from Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen”, Johann Georg Sturm, (Painter, Jacob Sturm), 1796, HERE.
The
Common Snowdrop was named galanthus nivalis, by Carl Linnaeus in 1735, in
his book, Systema Naturae, the name is from the Greek word “gála”,
or milk, and “ánthos”, or flower.
The name Snowdrop for this plant was first recorded in 1663, by the English
botanist, John Gerard, in his book Great Herbal, apparently it was
called this because it looks like a drop of snow emerging from ground.
Common
Snowdrops grow from three to six inches (7-15 cm) tall, and bloom in the wild,
sometime between January and May, depending on where in the northern temperate
zone they are found. They are perennial
flowers which sprout each spring from bulbs, and from each bulb grows two
greenish-gray leaves and a single stalk, from which a single bell-shaped flower
hangs. Each flower has six petals, three
outers and three inners, and each inner petal has a greenish yellow “V” or “U”
shaped notch in its tip. This green,
yellow notch acts as a guide for pollinators and helps with photosynthesis as
well.
The
flowers of the Common Snowdrop only last for about a week, and when the
blossoms fade, they leave behind a green capsule, about a ½ inch (12 mm) in
diameter, which is full of seeds. A few
weeks later the leaves of the Common Snowdrop die, and the plant goes into
hiding again, until next spring.
The flowers of the Common Snowdrop plants, only last about a week. Photograph by the Author.
And
just because it is the first question that everyone always asks, no you can’t
eat them! While Common Snowdrops are not
highly toxic to humans, eating any part of the plant, either the flowers, the leaves,
or the roots, can nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, especially if they are eaten
in quantity, so don’t do it!
Don’t forget to come back next week and read “A Walk in the Gorge, a
Seiche and Stranded Fish©”, where I will talk about what I found in the Niagara
River Gorge, just below Niagara Falls, on a recent walk.
I
hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me
on YouTube at Bandanaman Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The
Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE,
and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free
to leave a comment on either site. I
announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at
bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.
That
is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!
Sources
Crawford, Bruce; “Snowdrops
– The Start of the Garden Symphony”, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station,
[© 2021 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Rutgers, New Jersey], https://njaes.rutgers.edu/plant-of-the-month/galanthus.php,
accessed March 30, 2021
Kew Science, Plants of
the World, “Galanthus nivalis L”, [© Copyright Board of Trustees of the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew], http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:64496-1#:~:text=Galanthus%20nivalis%20was%20described%20by,with%20milk%2Dwhite%20flowers)., accessed March 30, 2021
NC State Extension,
“Galanthus nivalis”, [NC State University], https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/galanthus-nivalis/,
accessed March 30, 2021
United
States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Services, “Galanthus
nivalis L. snowdrop”, https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=GANI, accessed March 30, 2021
Wikimedia, “Figure 49
from Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen”, Johann Georg Sturm, (Painter, Jacob
Sturm), 1796, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galanthus_nivalis_Sturm49.jpg, accessed March 30, 2021
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