COMMON SNOWDROP 



retirement they will come into the morning sunshine fresh, hale, 

 and hearty, — "the unflinching snowdrop." 



The nodding flower looks as if it were made up of three concave 

 white petals surrounding a greenish tube; but upon examina- 

 tion the tube proves to be itself made up of three separate parts, 

 which are white, marked and blotched with green. The stamens 

 are six, and consist of short green filaments with long-pointed, 

 bright -yellow anthers, which discharge their pollen from the top. 



The leaves come up with the flowers, attain their full growth 

 later, and commonly die down in midsummer. A fine bed of 

 Snowdrops is easily acquired; one needs only to plant the bulbs 

 permanently in a sheltered place and let them alone. They 

 will thrive, even on neglect. 



The winter bloom, however, is only casual and incidental; the 

 blossoming period in our northern climate is March or April, de- 

 pending somewhat upon the season. 



The books give southern Europe and northern Africa as the 

 native home of the species. Although a child of the lowlands 

 it possesses many Alpine characteristics which lead one to infer 

 either that it was left behind in the retreat of the glacial ice, or 

 that it has for some reason descended from the mountain heights 

 into the valleys at their feet. 



Whether the plant ever pushes its way up through the snow is 

 doubtful, though the French name, Perce-neige, certainly sug- 

 gests as much. The German name, Scknee-glocken, refers sim- 

 ply to the form of the flower. In England the little creature has 

 long been known in cottage gardens as "the Fair Maid of Feb- 

 ruary." 



The species known as Galanthus Elwesii, introduced into Eng- 

 land from the mountains of Asia Minor in 1875, is in some re- 

 spects a better gardener's flower than Galanthus nivalis, though 

 it blooms two weeks later. The flowers are larger, with slightly 

 different markings. The gardeners have succeeded in producing 

 double forms — woe worth the day! 



75 



