Nature on our doorsteps: Little flower of the snow

Rosaleen Dwyer is the County Heritage Officer at South Dublin County Council – every week she gives us an insight into the natural heritage around us and the beautiful biodiversity of the plants and creatures.

SNOWDROPS are often one of the first of the spring bulbs to pop their heads up very early in the New Year.

These delightful flowers are not native to Ireland.

They originated from mainland Europe, where their natural range stretches from the Pyrenees mountains between France and Spain eastwards towards the Caucuses in Eastern Europe.

It is thought that Snowdrops were initially introduced to Britain by the Romans. In the centuries since then, they were planted widely in gardens across both Ireland and Britain.

They prefer damp and shady soils such as along woodland edges, riverbanks, or around the base of large trees.

The dainty, nodding flowers appear to have three large outer white petals inside of which are three smaller petals.

The outer ‘petals’ are in fact sepals, which protect the flower when it is a bud and which then support the petals once the flower blooms.

Snowdrop’s true petals are marked with patches of green

Inside the sepals, the true petals are white with patches of green on notches around the lower edges.

Once the flowers have faded, their underground bulbs need to build up their energy once again during spring and early summer, after which they go dormant until the following winter.

During their summer dormancy, the bulbs do not like to dry out too much.

For this reason, they prefer to grow under the summer shade of woodlands or the canopy of large trees.

Snowdrop’s Latin name is Galanthus nivalis.

This name originates from the Greek words ‘gala’, which means milk, and ‘anthos’ which means flower.

The word ‘nivalis’, originates from the Latin for snow. In Irish, its name is Plúiríní sneachta, meaning little flower of the snow.

While Snowdrops might be a welcome sight for us on a chilly day in January and February, they are a very important source of pollen for early insects at a time when little else is in flower