January 19 , 1893. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
21 
S O long have we been accustomed to the Snowdrop withholding 
its pure blossoms from our view until the last days of January 
or early February, that the public mind has been slow to recognise 
that there are not only Snowdrops which bloom in midwinter 
also, but others which come in October to give our gardens a new 
charm in the time when flowers are becoming few and far between. 
So long, too, has the Snowdrop of our gardens and parks re¬ 
mained the child of nature, untutored and unchanged by art, that 
we are almost unwilling to believe that this “ early herald of the 
infant year,” with its chaste and simple blossoms, may be con¬ 
strained to produce varieties which will yield us flowers of larger 
size, of varied form, and of other markings. To me, for one, for 
long these changes were unwelcome, and it was with feelings in 
which some dread of seeing the Snowdrop attain the status of a 
“ florist’s flower ” was predominant that some years ago I began to 
see that a new destiny awaited this simple flower. Further re¬ 
flection, however, shows on what shallow basis this dread was 
founded. The Daffodil, for instance, has lost nothing, but has 
vastly gained by the labours of Leeds, Backhouse, and the more 
recent cultivators who have sought to add new forms to our 
gardens. Nor has Dame Nature herself, even in the Snowdrop, 
taught us a lesson of immutability, for many examples of her work 
in yielding us new varieties are coming into view, and where she 
has led the way we need not disdain to follow. 
The Snowdrop Conference of the Royal Horticultural Society, 
held on March 10th, 1891, may be said to have marked a great 
step in the movement for the increased cultivation of the species 
and varieties of the Calanthus, which has been slowly making its 
way among a limited number ; and it is to be hoped that this 
movement will make still greater headway, checked though it is by 
the difficulty, or rather impossibility, of obtaining many of the 
newer introductions through the medium of the ordinary trade 
sources. It is with the view of adding some slight impetus to this 
movement that these notes are penned, incomplete as they neces¬ 
sarily are, the literature of the Snowdrop being now too extensive 
to permit of its condensation into the limits of this article. 
Treating of the Snowdrops in cultivation in the order of their 
flowering we have, as the pioneer of the genus, the early Galanthus 
octobrensis, blooming in Britain in October or early in November. 
This is a pretty but delicate flower, partaking of the character of 
G. nivalis, of which it is in reality only a variety or a sub-species. 
This Snowdrop was first introduced into this country by the late 
Rev. Harpur Crewe, who received bulbs from Lord Walsingham, 
who had collected them on one of the Albanian mountains. 
Following G. octobrensis are some other varieties, which are as 
yet too rare, and have been too short a time in our gardens to 
speak with any certainty of their average blooming time. Of these 
G. Rachelse and G. Elsas are in cultivation, but are so rare as to be 
almost priceless. The former was collected by Professor Mahaffy 
on Mount Hymettus in 1884 or 1886. This was in leaf in Dublin 
in December, and I have a bulb, received under this name, which 
is also in leaf, but it is quite possible that mine may not prove the 
true sort, as there are several winter-flowering varieties at present 
going under the names of G. Olgae, G. Rachelae, and G. Els® on 
the continent. Of the authenticated G. Rachel® there are very 
few bulbs in existence, and I should be glad to possess one of these. 
No. 655. —VoL. XXVI., Thied Seeies, 
G. Els® was in bud in Dublin in December, but it has been known 
to open earlier. G. Olg® is at present in uncertainty. It was 
originally found on Mount Laygetus by Orphanides, but unfortu¬ 
nately, on account of his sad illness, no further trace of it seems to 
have been found. G. Els® was brought from Mount Athos by 
Professor Mahaffy. 
In all probability, however, it will be found that G. corcyrensis 
or pr®cox, said to have been sent from Corfu to the Rev. Harpur 
Crewe, is the Snowdrop which in ordinary seasons will succeed 
G. octobrensis. This flowered with me in the end of November, 
1892, but it generally flowers from the middle to the end of 
December. This is a small but pretty form of G. nivalis, to which 
species G. Rachel® and G. Els® also belong. It, like all the other 
autumn-flowering varieties, possesses the glaucous line down the 
centre of the leaf, which is a noteworthy feature of these varieties. 
There are several Snowdrops from Corfu, of which little can be 
said, for the sufficient reason that they have not yet been properly 
named, and in all likelihood some of these will be offered under the 
names of some of the rare varieties being inquired for. I have two 
bulbs from the continent, as “ received from Albania, and probably 
octobrensis.” They are only in bud, and although of the autumn 
and winter-flowering type it is likely enough from their appearance 
that they will prove to be bulbs of G. corcyrensis. 
The next to bloom in our gardens is G. Elwesi, one of the finest 
of our Snowdrops, although having the defect of failing in some 
gardens, and also of being weak in the stem. Mr. Allen of 
Shepton Mallet, to whom, in a very great degree, the movement 
in favour of the Snowdrops is due, is endeavouring to raise seed¬ 
lings of a more vigorous type, and it is to be hoped that he may be 
successful. G. Elwesi is very distinct, not only from the inner 
petals being arranged in a tube-like manner, but also from the 
dark green basal blotch extending to half their length. There is 
a very considerable variation in this species, and several superior 
forms are at present in process of selection. Mr. Allen has found 
some with the inner petals almost entirely green, and Mr. Boyd of 
Melrose has raised a seedling which flowered for the first time in 
1892, and which is entirely white. According to Mr. Baker’s 
“ Handbook of the Amaryllide®,” G. Elwesi was discovered by 
Balansa in 1854, but was only individualised in 1875 by Mr. Elwes. 
Mr. Baker gives February as the flowering period in this country, 
but I have found this species flowers very early in January in 
ordinary seasons with me. This season it is later than usual. 
Imported bubs are, however, earlier, and have been showing flower 
from early in December. I have also under observation bulbs 
received from the Bithynian Olympus, and marked by my corre¬ 
spondent as probably G. Elwesi. The leaves, however, appear 
broader than those of Elwesi which has been introduced from the 
mountains near Smyrna. I can find no note regarding the Galanthi 
of the Bithynian Olympus, and am in hope that I may find some¬ 
thing near G. Foster! among my bulbs. G. nivalis, our common 
Snowdrop, has proved much more variable than is generally 
believed. 
Besides the various autumn varieties already noted, those which 
flower in spring vary considerably. Taking these varieties in 
alphabetical order we have G. ®stivalis, a very pretty and distinct 
little Snowdrop with bright green markings, and flowering much 
later than the type. I have had this for some four or five years, 
and find it very useful for cutting purposes. G. Cathcarti® 
found, I believe, in a Scottish garden is a form with twin spathes 
and no green markings on the sepals. G. flavescens has yellow 
markings on the inner petals and a yellow ovary. This was found 
in Northumberland by Mr. Boyd, and it is found a stronger 
grower than G. lutescens, which is of somewhat similar character, 
but with the yellow of a paler tint. This was also found in 
Northumberland, but in a different garden, and by Mr. Sanders of 
Cambridge. G. major is said to be a large flowered form of nivalis, 
and is one which I only succeeded in obtaining last autumn. 
No. 2311.—VoL. LXXXVIIL, Old Seeies. 
