568 GALANTHUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



GALAN'THUS. 



and Imperati commenced. In the section 

 to which G. nivalis and G. Imperati be- 

 long there are some most lovely Snow- 

 drops, amongst which I would mention 

 first Mr. Melville's Dunrobin form. G. n. 

 Atkinsi is second to none in size, form, 

 quality, and freedom in growth. It is 

 the plant known to some as Imperati of 

 Atkins. 



G. PLICATUS is very distinct and its best 

 forms possess great beauty. The fore- 

 most place in this section belongs to 

 G. p. maximus. G. plicatus usually 

 flowers late, but I have a selected form, 

 G. p. praecox, which flowers with the 

 early varieties of G. nivalis. Another 

 selected form, G. p. Omega, flowers with 

 the very latest. 



G. ELWESI. The best forms of this 

 are large and handsome, but it wants the 

 most sheltered spots in the garden to 

 thrive. Many find G. Elwesi difficult to 

 manage, but with me it grows very freely, 

 especially in one bed of very light soil, 

 where the seedlings are almost a nuisance. 



G. LATIFOLIUS. This is the most dis- 

 tinct of all Snowdrops, with its broad 

 grass-green foliage and small pure white 

 flowers, and it has a delicate beauty all 

 its own, more especially just before the 

 bud expands, when the two leaves curve 

 so lovingly round the flower-stem. 



G. FOSTERI. The markings on the inner 

 petals are very similar to those of G. Elwesi, 

 but the foliage is quite different, being broad 

 and somewhat blunt, and in shape and 

 colour much like the leaves of Scilla 

 sibirica. M. Max Leichtlin thinks very 

 highly of G. Fosteri, and considers it to 

 be the " king of Snowdrops." 



G. ALLENI. Mr. Barker thinks this is 

 probably a hybrid between G. latifolius 

 and G. caucasicus, as it has some of the 

 features of each species. The flower is 

 of much the same character as that of 

 G. latifolius, but nearly twice as large, 

 and the foliage corresponds in size with 

 the blossoms. 



AUTUMNAL SNOWDROPS. In Greece 

 and the adjacent countries several Snow- 

 drops have been found which flower in 

 the autumn or early winter. They seem 

 to belong to the nivalis section. One 

 peculiarity I have noticed in them' is that 

 they have a glaucous line running down 

 the centre of each leaf, and by this they 

 can be at once distinguished from the 

 spring-flowering forms of nivalis. So far 

 as I can learn, all these Snowdrops grow 

 on high ground, mostly on mountains. I 

 understand that the Snowdrops on the 

 lower grounds do not flower until early in 

 the year, 



G. OLGJE.. From the descriptions given 

 of it, G. Olgae must be a fine variety, and 

 it is very unfortunate that it is lost to 

 cultivation. M. Tanka, the Hungarian 

 botanist, asserts that this and G. octo- 

 brensis are identical, but I do not think so ; 

 and the difference between G. octobrensis 

 and G. Rachelae confirms my opinion. 



G. OCTOBRENSIS. Lord Walsingham, 

 when travelling in Albania about the year 

 1875, collected some bulbs on one of the 

 mountains and sent them to the late Rev. 

 H. Harpur-Crewe. Amongst these was 

 a bulb which proved to be a Snowdrop 

 flowering in the autumn, usually in 

 October. I am sorry to say that it is 

 somewhat delicate and increases very 

 slowly with me. 



G. RACHEL/E. This is of the same 

 type as G. octobrensis, but the flower is 

 a little larger, and the leaves are quite a 

 third broader, and it seems to have a 

 stronger constitution than that variety. 

 It also differs in being a week or ten days 

 later in flowering. 



THE YELLOW SNOWDROPS form but 

 a small class, two varieties only being 

 known at present, G. lutescens, and G. 

 flavescens. It must not be supposed 

 that the petals of the flower are yellow ; 

 the name is given because of the rich 

 yellow colour of the ovary, and the mark- 

 ings on the inner petals are also of that 

 colour, instead of the usual green, and 

 even the flower-stalks are more yellow 

 than green. 



THE WHITE SNOWDROPS also consist, 

 at present, of two varieties only. G. 

 poculiformis was first brought into notice 

 by Mr. D. Melville, who found it in the 

 grounds at Dunrobin Castle. It has 

 since been found in Wales by Mr. A. 

 D. Webster, and I have also received 

 bulbs of a very similar form from a lady 

 near Ayr, in whose garden it grew with 

 several other peculiar forms. 



GREEN SNOWDROPS, form quite a large 

 class, but none of the blossoms are 

 entirely, or even mostly, green in colour. 

 They come into this class in consequence 

 of having more or less green on the outer 

 petals. G. Scharloki was so named 

 in 1868 by Professor Caspary in honour 

 of its discoverer, Herr Julius Scharlok, 

 who found it in the valley of the Nahe, 

 a tributary of the Rhine. This variety, 

 in addition to large pale-green spots 

 towards the tips of the outer petals, has 

 the peculiarity of a twin or divided spathe, 

 which curves down on the two sides much 

 like a pair of wings. This variety grows 

 and increases very freely. G. virescens 

 is a very singular-looking Snowdrop, 



