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Snowflake (plant)
Encyclopedia
Spring Snowflake and Summer Snowflake or Loddon Lily (Leucojum aestivum) are bulb
ous plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae
family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are the only species
currently classified in the genus
Leucojum. The spelling Leucoium may also be found.
Leucojum is a compound
of Greek
leukos "white" and ion "violet".
The snowflakes are native to central and southern Europe
, from the Pyrenées
to Romania
and western Russia
, but they have been introduced and have naturalized in many other areas, including the east coast of North America
. They have narrow, strap-like, dark green leaves. The flower
s are small and bell-shaped, white with a green (or occasionally yellow) spot at the end of each tepal
. They have a slight fragrance.
Leucojum vernum (Spring snowflake) normally grows 15-20 cm tall (6-8 in), though it may reach up to 35 cm (14 in). It flowers one or two weeks later than the snowdrops, i.e., from mid-February to March, as soon as the snow melts in its wild habitat
.
Two varieties
are known: L. vernum var. vernum with green spots on its tepals, and L. vernum var. carpathicum, which originates from the eastern part of its natural range, a larger plant with yellowish spots on its tepals; 'vagneri' from Hungary is a robust variant of var. vernum, often with two flowers per stem.
Leucojum aestivum (Summer snowflake) has a wider natural range, taking in Europe (including the British Isles
), southwest Asia
and northern Iran
, and growing in wetter habitats including damp woodland, riversides and swamps. Despite its common name it flowers from April to May, though later than the Spring Snowflake. It is a taller plant than Leucojum vernum, growing to around 60 cm (2 ft), but its flowers are smaller and are carried in an umbel
of between three and seven. Its fleshy seed pods are inflated, allowing them to be dispersed by flood water. Leucojum aestivum subsp. pulchellum (Salisb.) Briq., native to the western Mediterranean Basin
, is smaller: 20 cm (8 in), and flowers 2 weeks earlier, i.e., from mid-March.
Image:Leucojum aestivum5.jpg|Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
Image:SpringSnowflake.jpg|Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum)
Image:Leucojum-vernum-flower1.jpg|Flower of var. carpathicum
Image:Leucojum aestivum 2010.jpg|Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
with larger flowers. It is named after Gravetye Manor, an Elizabethan manor
house in West Sussex
, England, the home of the influential garden writer William Robinson
from 1884 until his death in 1935. The house is now a hotel.
Leucojum vernum ‘Podpolozje’ is a robust cultivar which combines the properties of var. carpathicum with that of the variant ‘vagneri’, i.e., two flowers per stem and yellowish spots on its tepals.
.
The Acis species prefer drier soils than Leucojum species. Four of them are autumn-flowering: Acis autumnalis, Acis ionica, Acis rosea and Acis valentina.
following a 2002 survey by the wild flower and plant conservation charity Plantlife
. It was once common in the Loddon
Valley, hence its alternative name of the 'Loddon Lily'.
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
ous plants belonging to the Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidoideae is the subfamily of flowering plants that takes its name from the genus Amaryllis. It is part of the family Amaryllidaceae, in order Asparagales...
family, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are the only species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
currently classified in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Leucojum. The spelling Leucoium may also be found.
Leucojum is a compound
Compound (linguistics)
In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme that consists of more than one stem. Compounding or composition is the word formation that creates compound lexemes...
of Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
leukos "white" and ion "violet".
Description
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, from the Pyrenées
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and western Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, but they have been introduced and have naturalized in many other areas, including the east coast of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. They have narrow, strap-like, dark green leaves. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are small and bell-shaped, white with a green (or occasionally yellow) spot at the end of each tepal
Tepal
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal is more often applied specifically when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or undifferentiated, which is called perigone...
. They have a slight fragrance.
Leucojum vernum (Spring snowflake) normally grows 15-20 cm tall (6-8 in), though it may reach up to 35 cm (14 in). It flowers one or two weeks later than the snowdrops, i.e., from mid-February to March, as soon as the snow melts in its wild habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
.
Two varieties
Variety (biology)
In botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: as such, it gets a three-part infraspecific name....
are known: L. vernum var. vernum with green spots on its tepals, and L. vernum var. carpathicum, which originates from the eastern part of its natural range, a larger plant with yellowish spots on its tepals; 'vagneri' from Hungary is a robust variant of var. vernum, often with two flowers per stem.
Leucojum aestivum (Summer snowflake) has a wider natural range, taking in Europe (including the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
), southwest Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and northern Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and growing in wetter habitats including damp woodland, riversides and swamps. Despite its common name it flowers from April to May, though later than the Spring Snowflake. It is a taller plant than Leucojum vernum, growing to around 60 cm (2 ft), but its flowers are smaller and are carried in an umbel
Umbel
An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
of between three and seven. Its fleshy seed pods are inflated, allowing them to be dispersed by flood water. Leucojum aestivum subsp. pulchellum (Salisb.) Briq., native to the western Mediterranean Basin
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
, is smaller: 20 cm (8 in), and flowers 2 weeks earlier, i.e., from mid-March.
Image:Leucojum aestivum5.jpg|Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
Image:SpringSnowflake.jpg|Spring Snowflake (Leucojum vernum)
Image:Leucojum-vernum-flower1.jpg|Flower of var. carpathicum
Image:Leucojum aestivum 2010.jpg|Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum)
Cultivars
Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' is a selected cultivarCultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
with larger flowers. It is named after Gravetye Manor, an Elizabethan manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
house in West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
, England, the home of the influential garden writer William Robinson
William Robinson (gardener)
William Robinson was an Irish practical gardener and journalist whose ideas about wild gardening spurred the movement that evolved into the English cottage garden, a parallel to the search for honest simplicity and vernacular style of the British Arts and Crafts movement...
from 1884 until his death in 1935. The house is now a hotel.
Leucojum vernum ‘Podpolozje’ is a robust cultivar which combines the properties of var. carpathicum with that of the variant ‘vagneri’, i.e., two flowers per stem and yellowish spots on its tepals.
Acis
Nine former members of the genus, characterised by their narrow leaves, solid stems and unmarked flowers, have recently (July 2004) been reclassified as genus AcisAcis (plant)
Acis is a genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the Amaryllis family . The genus consists in 9 species distributed in Europe and Northern Africa.The genus was reinstated in 2004, after it was determined on morphological and molecular grounds that these species should be segregated...
.
The Acis species prefer drier soils than Leucojum species. Four of them are autumn-flowering: Acis autumnalis, Acis ionica, Acis rosea and Acis valentina.
Cultural importance
Leucojum aestivum was named the county flower of BerkshireBerkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
following a 2002 survey by the wild flower and plant conservation charity Plantlife
Plantlife
Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. As of 2007, its membership was 10,500 and it owned 23 nature reserves around the UK.-History:It was founded in 1989 with its first President being Professor David Bellamy. By 1999 it had 22 nature reserves....
. It was once common in the Loddon
River Loddon
The River Loddon is a river in the English counties of Berkshire and Hampshire. It is a tributary of the River Thames, rising within the urban area of Basingstoke and flowing to meet the Thames near the village of Wargrave...
Valley, hence its alternative name of the 'Loddon Lily'.