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Amaryllidaceae FAMILY

Galanthus nivalis

Galanthus nivalis

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The bulb is somewhat poisonous[1, 2]. It contains phenanthridine alkaloids which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea if ingested, though toxicity is usually only low[3].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Galanthus nivalis is a moderately hardy plant, the buld able to withstand temperatures down to at least -15°c[2]. Prefers a position in cool, dappled shade in a moist but well-drained, humus-rich soil that does not become excessively dry in the summer[4, 5, 2]. Prefers a moist heavy loam[6], growing well in grass or amongst shrubs[5]. A mulch of leafmould, applied after the plants die down in spring, is beneficial[2]. A very ornamental plant[5], it grows well on the woodland edge[7]. The bulbs should be planted about 5 - 7cm deep as early in the spring as possible[5]. A good bee plant, providing an early source of pollen and nectar[6].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame[5]. Sow the seed thinly so that there is no need to thin them. The seed usually germinates in the spring[5]. Grow them on in the same pot in a cold frame for the first two years, giving an occasional liquid feed to ensure the plants do not become nutrient deficient. Pot up the small bulbs whilst they are still in leaf in early summer of their second year's growth, putting about 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on in the cold frame for a further year before planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring whilst they are still in growth. The plants take about 4 years to flower from seed[2]. Division of offsets[5, 2]. This is best done immediately after the plants have finished flowering (and still have green leaves) though it can also be done in late summer and early autumn when the plants are dormant[2]. Scooping. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Galanthus+nivalis>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1969 · ISBN 0192176218 ↩︎An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  4. [4]Plants for Shade. — Knight. F. P. · Royal Horticultural Society. · 1980 · ISBN 0-900629-78-9 ↩︎A small but informative booklet listing plants that can be grown in shady positions with a few cultivation details.
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. — International Bee Research Association. · International Bee Research Association. · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎The title says it all.
  7. [7]Making a Wildlife Garden. — Baines. C. ↩︎Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.
  8. [8]Flora of Turkey. — Davis. P. H. · Edinburgh University Press · 1965 · ISBN - ↩︎Not for the casual reader, this is an immense work in many volumes. Some details of plant uses and habitats.
  9. [9]Plant Sources of Galanthamine: Phytochemical and Biotechnological Aspects — Berkov S. et al · 2009 · https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2009.10817633 · ISBN 1310-2818 ↩︎
  10. [10]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  11. [11]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  12. [12]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  13. [13]Galanthamine from snowdrop—the development of a modern drug against Alzheimer’s disease from local Caucasian knowled — Heinrich M. & Teoh H.L. · 2004 · http://10.1016/j.jep.2004.02.012 ↩︎
  14. [14]Homeopathic Materia Medica — William Boericke, M.D. · http://www.homeoint.org/books/boericmm/index.htm ↩︎An on-line version of the book