Snowdrops signal winter may soon be over
In some countries the emergence of snowdrop flowers is said to herald the beginning of the spring season. Here in the south it’s probably more correct to say that the early flowering snowdrop flowers remind us that winter may soon be over.
One of the Latin words used to describe the snowdrop means ‘‘of the snow’’ and the Greek name means ‘‘milk’’ so the colour of the flowers has led to descriptive names from early in history.
There is often some confusion between the snowdrop and the snowflake. They are different species with the snowflake flowering season usually beginning in early summer.
The flowers of the two species also have a different arrangement of the petals. Each species has six petals arranged in a circle witch botanically is called a whorl.
The snowdrop has three long outer petals and three short inner petals. The short petals have green tips and these can be seen in today’s photograph. The snowflake’s petals are all of the same length and each has a green tip.
Snowdrops are native to Europe and there are about 20 species worldwide. They are a popular ‘‘spring’’ flower and some species are now listed as endangered plants and people are forbidden to collect them from the wild.
Snowdrops grow from bulbs which spread by forming offsets which can produce flowers the next season.
They can also be propagated from seed.
The snowdrops in the photograph were flowering in an Invercargill park at the beginning of this month.
It was still winter!