Guiding us out of the darkness, cheery delicate snowdrops form stepping stones to future brighter days ahead, as the sense of seasonal continuity returns. Tiny delicate white nodding bells of snowdrops are becoming increasingly visible, peeping up through cold, dank earth, forming frothy white patches on bare earth and on woodland floors. This welcome emergence of blankets of snowdrops is one of the joys of winter and a reminder of the cycle of life, harbingers of lighter, longer, warmer days ahead. In the 1950s, snowdrops would not typically flower until late February, but in the last few decades they have appeared ever earlier, and in particularly mild winters, snowdrops may not even wait for a New Year to begin.
The pure white delight of snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis (milk flower of the snow) is derived from two Greek words, Galantus meaning ‘milk’ and ‘flower’ referring to the white petals and nivalis from the Latin word for ‘snow’. Carl Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish botanist, bestowed them with this name in 1753. Only first recorded in the 18th century, the arrival of the first bulbs in the country remains unknown, some historical evidence shows that they were cultivated back in 1597, yet surprisingly the species were not officially recorded for another 180 years. In origin the snowdrop is actually native to Europe and the Middle East, and was probably brought to Britain by the Romans, it is a small genus of about 20 species of plants in the Amaryllidaceae or Amaryllis family.
In France they are more commonly known as pierce-neige, which translates as snow piercers, an accurate description of their growing habit. Their pointed leaves have specially hardened tips to help them break through frozen soil and their sap contains a form of antifreeze to prevent ice crystals forming. On very cold mornings, clumps will flop down as the water is 'frozen’ inside the cells, but will soon perk up again as temperatures rise and the sap can flow again. Snowdrops also contain an alkaloid, galantamine, a substance also found in daffodils, now licensed for use in the management of mild and moderate cases of Alzheimer’s disease in various countries, especially Eastern Europe and Russia.
Once they have flowered, snowdrop stems droop down and the seed pods develop on the surface of the soil. Each seed has a small oil and protein-rich appendage called an elastiome, and when the seed pods open they attract ants, which take them down into their nests as food for developing larvae. The seeds themselves remain untouched and, thanks to the ants, are both dispersed to new locations and conveniently planted underground. Most snowdrops found in the wild in Britain spread from vegetative division of the bulbs rather than by seed because they originally come from a cultivated sterile clone that is unable to set seed. Even when other fertile species and varieties are around though, seed production tends to be poor as there are few pollinating insects around in January and February to fertilise the flowers.
Their intricate little flowers have the tiniest variation in form, shape and colour celebrated in a myriad of named forms and hybrids - there are currently 20 different species of snowdrop recognised in the wild, the most recent addition to the list being Panjutin's snowdrop, Galanthus panjutinii, only formally recorded in 2012.
Any visit to our Northants base at Lings in January or February is enriched by the cheerful banks of snowdrops and winter aconites - aconites take on the baton of cheery sunburst until soon violets, wood anemones and other spring flowers will emerge next month.
