Galanthus, or snowdrop, is a small genus of approximately 20 species of bulbous perennial herbaceous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae. The plants have two linear leaves and a single small white drooping bell-shaped flower with six petal-like (petaloid) tepals in two circles (whorls). The smaller inner petals have green markings.
Galanthus
Galanthus nivalis: Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885
G. nivalis from John Gerard's Herball, 1597
The three different forms of leaf shoots from the bulb: flat (applanate), folded (explicative) rolled up (convolute) (left to right)
The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus Amaryllis and is commonly known as the amaryllis family. The leaves are usually linear, and the flowers are usually bisexual and symmetrical, arranged in umbels on the stem. The petals and sepals are undifferentiated as tepals, which may be fused at the base into a floral tube. Some also display a corona. Allyl sulfide compounds produce the characteristic odour of the onion subfamily (Allioideae).
Amaryllidaceae
Allium cepa bulbs with roots
Rhizome of Agapanthus
Narcissus shoots emerging, with sheathed leaves