The snowdrop is a true harbinger of spring in the Donau-Auen National Park. The species avoids sites which are frequently flooded. In the hardwood riparian forest, the Snowdrop and its friends Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem and Bluebell bloom impressively at various sites at the beginning of the growing season.
Description
The round to oval Snowdrop bulb appears as early as the beginning of the calendar year. Two slender green leaves push their way up through the frosty ground. Between February and April, a solitary drooping flower will blossom at the end of the flower stalk. The three spreading sepals are pure white and significantly longer than the inner petals, which are arranged in double-flower pattern and streaked green at the tips. The ripe fruit weighs down the flower stalk; the yellow fruit capsules contain seeds with elaiosomes, or small appendages. These facilitate the dispersal of seeds by ants.
Distribution
The Snowdrop is not known in Tyrol and is found in Carinthia only as garden escapes. The Snowdrop colonizes riparian forests and damp, deciduous woodlands with loamy soils and is found up to montane zones.
Endangerment and Conservation Status
The species is regionally vulnerable in the northern Alpine foothills. In Vienna and Lower Austria, the Snowdrop is partly protected: it is forbidden by law "to pick more than five specimens of any one species above ground and in total no larger than a small bouquet".
Ecological Characteristics
The Snowdrop blooms very early in the year and sometimes must make its way through thin blankets of snow, or may even be snowed upon itself. Its drooping flower protects the stigma and the stamen from the elements, e.g. rain and snowfall. The stigma matures before the stamen, thus preventing self-pollination. However, if pollinating visitors such as honey bees fail to call on the flower (due to poor weather, for example) the species may resort to self-fertilization. Afterwards the flower stalk and fruit capsules relax and lie prone on the ground. The elaiosomes, or fleshy structures attached to the seeds, enable ants to grab hold of the seeds and disperse them. The species also reproduces by vegetative means by division of bulbs. As an early bloomer, the Snowdrop exploits the extra light available on the forest floor prior to foliation by deciduous trees. Thanks to the nutrients stored in its bulb, Galanthus nivalis can quickly push up its leaves before other plants; by the time trees have foliated, the Snowdrop has already flowered and stored up enough reserves for the coming season in its bulb.
Special Characteristics
The Snowdrop is a popular garden plant tending to escape. There are a great variety of cultivated forms with both pure white and other types of blossoms.