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Tag Archives: naturalised wildflowers

Snowdrops, native or not

21 Sunday Feb 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, naturalised wildflowers, non-native British wildflowers, Snowdrops, spring flowers

I thought the Snowdrop was a native British wildflower but it seems not.

210221 snowdrops (1)

This is from the publication Wonderland (by Brett Westwood and Stephen Moss):

Though they were once considered native, botanists now believe they were brought here from continental Europe to adorn Elizabethan gardens.
The first definite record in the wild dates from the 1770s, when they were discovered in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. If these showy flowers were truly native before then, it is hard to imagine them being overlooked.

210221 snowdrops (2)
210221 snowdrops (3)
210221 snowdrops (4)
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I’m now seeing plenty of Snowdrops when I’m out and about on my exercise walks, though I’m not sure whether they’re naturalised non-natives or have been planted along the roadsides by green-fingered locals. There are several different varieties of Snowdrop, and I’ve also seen quite a lot of double-flowered varieties amongst the more common types. The doubles (pictured on the right above) are probably Galanthus nivalis Flore Pleno, according to the identification crib sheet on the BSBI website, which, if you’re interested, also gives clear details of how to ID the single-flowered varieties.

210221 snowdrops (6)

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sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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