622 



GALACTIA 



GALANTHUS 



AA. Leaflets 7-9. 



Elliott!!, Nutt. Lfts. elliptic-oblong, notched, pubes- 

 cent beneath : fls. white, tinged red : pod silky. Dry 

 soil. S. C. to Fla. 



GALANTHUS (Greek, milk flower}. Amaryllidacece. 

 SNOWDROP. The flowers of Snowdrops ( G. nivalis, Fig. 

 888) are amongst the smallest and daintiest of our com- 

 mon hardy cultivated spring-blooming bulbs. Much 

 sentiment attaches to them, and in many an old-fash- 

 ioned garden they are the earliest flowers of the new 

 year. They often bloom in early March, before all the 

 snow has gone. Their pendulous white flowers, with 

 the "heart-shaped seal of green" dear to Eossetti, hold 

 a unique place in the affections of lovers of gardens. 

 Snowdrops are amongst the very few flowers in nature 

 in which the green color is decidedly attractive to our 

 senses. At first sight the fls. seem to have 3 large 

 white petals, inclosing a green and white tube with 

 6 tips, but a second glance shows that the parts that 

 function as petals are the outer segments of the peri- 

 anth, while the 3 inner ones, with their 2-lobed tips, are 

 not grown together, but overlap slightly, forming a 

 rather crude but stiffish tube. It would be interesting 

 to know whether the green marks have any relation to 

 calyx tips. Each plant has a globose coated bulb, 2-3 

 Ivs., grows 6-9 in. high, and bears usually only 1 flower, 

 which emerges from a spathe. Behind the perianth is 

 a globose green body, which is the ovary. 



In a congenial spot, moist, cool and shady, the 

 plants increase satisfactorily, and sometimes, without 

 any care whatever, form a bed from which literally 

 thousands of flowers maybe picked at what is, perhaps, 

 the most desolate and wearisome moment of the year. 

 (For a fine picture of Galanthus, naturalized in the grass, 

 see G.M. 34:184.) The leaves are linear and channeled, 

 and in dark, shining masses make a rich, quiet effect. 

 They come out with the fls., attain their full growth 

 later, and commonly die down in midsummer or fall. A 

 fine large bed of Snowdrops is more to be desired than 

 many novelties, rarities, or any individual plants of 

 indifferent health and vigor. The bulbs are cheap, and 

 should be ordered in liberal 

 quantities. In purity, modesty 

 and simplicity, Snowdrops have 

 perhaps no peers among hardy 

 spring-blooming bulbs other than 

 squills, grape hyacinths, and the 

 glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa). 

 Crocuses are more 

 cheerful and more 

 brilliant plants, with 

 larger and more vari- 

 ously colored flowers. 

 An era of new in- 

 terest in Snowdroos 

 began about 1875, 

 with the introduction 

 of the "giant" kind 

 (G. Elwesii, Fig. 

 889), but those who 

 do not care for large 

 violets" will be likely 

 to cling to the small 

 Snowdrops. Never- 

 theless, G. Elwesii is 

 very distinct, and 

 should be the first 

 choice if any large 

 kinds are desired, 

 and to secure the 

 best forms the con- 

 noisseur should buy 

 imported!] albs of its varieties. The only kinds known so 

 far \o possess a patch of green at the base of the inner 

 segments are G. Elwesii and Fosteri. Considering that 

 there are only 2 main types in this genus, nivalis and 

 Elwesii, the profusion of Latin names (especially since 

 1888, the date of Baker's "Handbook of the Amaryllidese") 

 is rather trying, except to the connoisseur who, unlike 

 the general public, is chiefly interested in the larger- 

 flowered forms and the novelties. 

 There are several types of minor importance. The 



The Snowdror 

 Galanthus nivalis. 



autumn-flowering kinds, representing many Latin 

 names, as Octobrensis, Corcyrensis, Ifeglnce Olgce, are 

 usually weak-growing plants. However, much is hoped 

 from G. Cilicicus, especially by the florists, who have 

 hitherto found no Snowdrop that could be profitably 

 forced for Christmas. Doubleness seems to add noth- 

 ing to the beauty of Snowdrops. So far it seems to 

 have affected only the inner segments of G. nivalis and 

 G. Elwesii. Yellow Snowdrops are also practically 

 unknown in America. In these the heart-shaped spot 

 and the ovary are yellow instead of green. Of these, 

 G. flavescens is said to have brighter markings than G. 

 lutescens. ^y ]yj 



The Galanthus is a true winter flower, and one of the 

 few kinds of bulbs which grow naturally in partial shade, 

 and suffer by actual baking of the bulbs. They are 

 found naturally in northern exposures, and conditions 

 similar to these inure to their welfare in gardens. The 

 October kinds must be grown in frames, for the leaves 

 will not ripen in the open. The fall-flowering forms are 

 mostly Grecian, and they all show a white line in the 

 channeled face of their, leaves. G. nivalis flowers in 

 the writer's garden, at Elizabeth, N. J., in a mild Janu- 

 ary, and G. Elwesii is even earlier. Among the choicer 

 kinds are G. Imperati, G. Ikarice (very distinct, Scilla- 

 like Ivs.), G. Whittalli and G. Melvillei major, quite 

 the finest forms of G. nivalis. For general culture no 

 form of Galanthus is so universally satisfactory as G. 

 nivalis. The writer has had diappointing results with 

 G. Fosteri, and cannot see that G. Caucasicus, var. 

 maximus, is any great gain in size. 



The yellow markings on Snowdrops are signs of de- 

 generacy. Among the flowers each season, though more 

 frequent at some times than others, will be found those 

 with lierht colored markings and occasionally some white 

 ones, but these plants show lack of vigor. In G. Elwesii 

 the spathes are sometimes 2-fld. instead of one. All the 

 fall-flowering kinds are rather delicate and decidedly 

 costly, and promise nothing for forcing. G. Elwesii 

 would be best for gentle forcing. The fall-flowering 

 kinds are probably all forms of G. nivalis, including 

 G. Olgce, which Baker keeps as a distinct species. 



J. N. GERARD. 



Index of names accounted for below: 

 Byzantinus, 12. Fosteri, 9. nivalis, 1. 



Cassaba, 5. Grsecus, 6. ochrospilvs, 5. 



Caucasicus, 4. grandiflorus, 11. plicatus, 10. 



Cilicicus. 2. Ikariae, 8. robustus, 5. 



Corcyrensis, 1. Imperati, 3. unguiculatus.5. 



Elwesii, 5. latifolius, 7. Whittalli, 5. 



Erithrce, 5. maximus, 4, 11. 



A. Lvs. merely channeled, not plaited. 



B. Width oflvs. small, 3-4 lines. 

 c. Base of Ivs. not very narrow. 



1. nivalis, Linn. COMMON SNOWDROP. Figs. 888, 889. 

 Bulb 6-12 lines thick: basal sheath split down one side: 

 Ivs. glaucous, finally 6-9 in. long: outer perianth segments 

 oblong, 6-12 lines long ; inner segments green only at 

 the sinus. Feb., Mar. Pyrenees to Caucasus. R. H. 

 1880, p. 148. G.M. 34:154. G.C. II. 11 :237. Gt. 48, p. 232. 

 There are large-fld. and double forms. Var. Corcyrensis 

 and others flower in Nov. At least 2 varieties have yel- 

 low instead of green markings. Var. reHexus has outer 

 segments reflexed. G.M. 34:155. 



cc. Base of Ivs. very narrow. 



2. Cilicicus, Baker. Less robust than Fosteri, with 

 much narrower Ivs., which are narrowed gradually from 

 the middle to a very narrow base. Green color as in 

 nivalis. Bulb Kin. thick: Ivs. whitish beneath; outer 

 segments oblong, 9 lines long, 3-4 lines broad: stamens 

 more than half as long as the inner segments. Mt. Tau- 

 rus, in Cilicia, where it fls. Nov. to Mar. Int. 1898. See 

 G. C. III. 21:214. Pictured in G. C. III. 23:79. A. F. 

 13:1137. Gng. 6:244. F.E.11:282. Gt.48,p.228. 



BB. Width of Ivs. medium, 6-9 lines long. 



C. Foliage moderately glaucous. 



D. Outer segments of perianth 12-15 lines long. 



3. Imperati, Bertol. Fls. larger than in G. nivalis; 

 outer segments more spatulate. Naples and Genoa. 

 This and Caucasicus are regarded by Baker as subspe- 

 cies of nivalis. G.C. II. 11: 237. G.M. 34: 155. 



