Mary Allen
Snowdrops are plants with white flowers. They belong to the spring bloomers, i.e. the first flowers of the new year. There are about twenty different species, all of which look very similar. The original Greek name means “milk flower”.
Of the twenty species, only one grows here, namely the real snowdrop. That’s why we call it “snowdrop”, sometimes also “March angel”, snowflake or snowdrop. Depending on the dialect, there are many other names. The other species grow from France to the Caspian Sea.
The snowdrops overwinter with bulbs. Each has leaves and a stalk with the flower. Each flower is male and female at the same time. Honey bees, butterflies, and other insects like nectar and pollen as their first food at the end of winter. This pollinates the flowers so that the seeds can grow. They are all in one capsule.
On the seeds, there is an appendage that contains a lot of sugar and fat. Ants like that. They therefore often carry the seeds to their burrow. They eat the appendage but not the seed. So it can form a new snowdrop if it is in favorable soil.
Snowdrops are one of our ornamental plants. They not only grow in nature but have also been bred for several hundred years. You can buy them in pots. But they also spread by themselves, especially in cemeteries or orchards.