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Snowdrop identification

jennier1960jennier1960 Posts: 2
in Plants
I have hundreds of snowdrops in my garden, the originals having come from local woods sixty or so years ago.  One caught my eye recently because it has 4 petals instead of 3. Should I get excited? 

Posts

  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited February 2021
    Glorious.
    Probably Galanthus nivalis...common snowdrop.
    4 tepals/petals..it does happen quite often /it is not rare...see link for more.

    https://www.first-nature.com/flowers/galanthus-nivalis.php

    Sadly once flower cut and put in a vase you will never be able to find which bulb it came from.
     Next time ... dig up the bulb/separated the bulb.
    Plant it safely and watch for next few years to see if it comes true every year with 4 tepals..other years it may just revert to 3 again.
    Then see if it warrants special attention.
     That is how there are now 100's of slightly different  bulbs and name cultivars.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    Don't think so according to this supplier they have 3 to 5 
    http://www.foxgroveplants.co.uk/snowdroplist.html

    Yours are lovely.
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    K67 said:
    Don't think so according to this supplier they have 3 to 5 
    http://www.foxgroveplants.co.uk/snowdroplist.html

    Yours are lovely.
    http://www.foxgroveplants.co.uk/snowdroplist.html

    Quote from link above....GALANTHUS NIVALIS FLORE PLENO
    The well known and widely grown DOUBLE SNOWDROP has been cultivated since the 1750’s. It can have 3 –5 outer petals,

    Was this the part you were meaning K67?
    Gal nivalis flore pleno  as well as having more tepals/petals also have very different centers...see below
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    @Silver surfer didn't see your post when I did mine. Can't say I have ever checked a snowdrop for number of petals. Is the picture one of yours, it's lovely but snowdrops on steroids are not my cup of tea, rather like those multi petaled daffs you get.

  • jennier1960jennier1960 Posts: 2
    Thanks all for comments. I won't give up my day job yet then!
    I did dig it up to save the bulb and in the process found another close by so I'm  not surprised. 
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    There are possibly a few thousand in my garden in bloom right now. I might give them a closer look tomorrow.
    Rutland, England
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited February 2021
    BenCotto said:
    There are possibly a few thousand in my garden in bloom right now. I might give them a closer look tomorrow.
    That is exactly the way new and different snowdrops are discovered!
    Get down on the ground and start looking.

    Near here a delightful lady, Elizabeth Harrison found a golden one in the middle of a clump of her Galanthus woronowii. She gave it to nursery man Ian Christie who propagated it and named it after her.
    It sold on e bay in 2012 for £725.00 ..see below....
    (apparently the buyer twin scaled it and lost the lot.)
    Even today on e bay they sell for £50.00.

    Quote from www....
    "The most valuable is the galanthus woronowii, also known as the 'Elizabeth Harrison', or giant snowdrop. A single bulb of this variety reportedly sold for a whopping £725 on eBay in 2012. It is set apart from others by gold markings on the petals.    8 Feb 2019"

    Pics below showing Galanthus woronowii Elizabeth Harrison....at NTS, Branklyn Gardens. In Perth .Scotland.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
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