SNOWDROPS. 



189 



Some vary in size, shape, and substance of flower ; some in 

 size and form of cup ; others in habit, or time of flowering. 

 Some flowers when fully open have a tendency to reflex, some 

 vary in the intensity of the green markings, while all are 

 beautiful. 



There are two very distinct types of nivalis, one with a deep 

 narrow cup well marked with green lines, long and rather narrow 

 outer petals, with G. n. Imperati as the largest form. Many 

 of the continental flowers are of this type. 



The other form, which appears to be mostly grown in the 

 British Isles, has a wider and shallower cup, with fainter mark- 

 ings, broader petals, of oblong ovate form, with G. n. Melvillei as 

 the largest form of the type. 



It may not be out of place to note a few of the forms of 

 nivalis which have originated here; viz.: Galanthus nivalis 

 Melvillei, a variety which has proved remarkably constant after 

 nearly a dozen years' cultivation, here and elsewhere. This 

 variety received a first class certificate in March 1879. It is 

 larger in all its parts than nivalis, the bulbs being sometimes 

 nearly double the size, leaves stouter and longer, flower-stalk 

 from two to three inches longer, flowers larger and of better 

 substance, of a creamy white, retaining in a marked degree a 

 more globular form. 



Galanthus nivalis serotinus, so named by the late Rev. H. 

 Harpur-Crewe, as being " quite a little gem in its way," is the 

 opposite of the giant form, being dwarfer than the ordinary 

 type, bulbs and flowers being smaller, and its time of blooming 

 later. The flowers, when fully expanded, sometimes reflex in 

 sunshine. 



G. nivalis poculiformis , another variety which originated 

 here, is very pretty but rather scarce. There is no cup in this 

 variety, the cup petals and outer segments being all of the same 

 length ; usually pure white, without the green marking, or at 

 least with very faint indications of green. 



A variety named G. n. prcecox showed a marked tendency 

 to blossom earlier than nivalis, usually coming into bloom from 

 a fortnight to three weeks before the others. This form was 

 noted in bloom at Chiswick on New Year's Day, 1881. There is 

 no special peculiarity about this form except its early blooming 

 tendency. 



