EPIGYNE^ 313 



Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum). 



As there are two Snowflakes, one which flowers 

 early in spring (hence vernum) ^ and the other in 

 summer (L. csstivum), this one is called Spring Snow- 

 flake. The name Snowflake refers to the white 

 flowers, and Leucojum means white violet. 



Like the last this is a frequent garden flower, and 

 is not native, being no more than an alien or denizen 

 in the opinion of Watson, the pioneer of plant dis- 

 tribution in the British Isles. It is found in Dorset, 

 where it is naturalised, near Bicester and Bridport. 



Copses are the habitat of the Spring Snowflake, 

 which is a rare plant, though found in plantations 

 and shrubberies or in the garden. 



Similar in habit to the Snowdrop, the plant is 

 bulbous. The leaves are more numerous, more or 

 less in two rows, appearing like the flowers in spring. 



The scape is hardly winged, with one to two flowers, 

 greenish-white, drooping. The spathe is two-fid 

 above. The ovary is rounded. The seeds have a 

 caruncle. The plant is smaller than the Summer 

 Snowflake. 



The height is from 6 to 12 in. high. The plant 

 flowers in April and May, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



The honey is not free. The flowers possess, 

 however, a sweet sap in the tissues which are pierced 

 by insects to obtain it. Being pendulous, if insects 

 do not visit the flowers, they are self-pollinated as in 

 the case of the Snowdrop. 



