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Galanthus elwesii
Also called Greater Snowdrop, Caucasian Snowdrop
Giant snowdrop is a bulbous spring-flowering perennial with large white, nodding flowers, grown in gardens where it naturalises readily. Plant the bulbs in autumn for early spring blooms.
Galanthus elwesii, Elwes's snowdrop or greater snowdrop, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to the Balkans and Asia Minor, where it is found in the countries of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey.
This herbaceous perennial plant grows to 20–25 cm (7.9–9.8 in) high. It grows from a globose bulb, 2–3 cm in diameter. It produces two leaves which are obtuse, linear, and blue-green in colour. The flowers are globose, white, pendulous, 2–3 cm long, and solitary at the tip of a solid, pointed scape. The outer floral tepals are oblanceolate, with shorter inner tepals that are emarginate (notched at the apex), tapering towards their base with green patches apically and basally (see illustrations). The fruit forms a dehiscent capsule with three valves. Overall Galanthus elwesii is a more robust plant than G. nivalis.
Galanthus elwesii is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens where it easily naturalises. Bulbs planted in the autumn flower in the early spring. Propagation is by separation of bulbils after flowering.
In the UK, the following have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
A native of the Balkans and Asia Minor, the species has been widely introduced elsewhere.
Galanthus alpinus var. alpinus · Galanthus bursanus · Galanthus lagodechianus · Snowdrop · Pleated Snowdrop · Queen Olga's Snowdrop · Snowdrop · Snowdrop
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Galanthus elwesii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
