Leucojum aestivum

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Amaryllidaceae

Herbs perennial , rarely shrubby or treelike, often with bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or tubers. Leaves basal or cauline, often narrow, margin entire or spiny . Inflorescence a terminal spike, umbel, raceme , panicle, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , actinomorphic or zygomorphic, usually subtended by 1 to several spathaceous involucres. Perianth segments 6, in 2 whorls, free or connate to form a short tube , with or without a corona . Stamens 6, inserted at perianth throat or at base of segments; filaments sometimes basally connate; anther dorsifixed or basifixed , mostly introrse . Ovary inferior, 3-loculed; ovules few to many per locule; placentation axile . Style slender; stigma capitate or 3-lobed. Fruit a capsule, usually loculicidal, sometimes dehiscing irregularly, rarely a berry. Seeds with endosperm.

More than 100 genera and 1200 species: tropical , subtropical , and temperate regions worldwide; ten genera and 34 species (14 endemic, four introduced ) in China.[1]

Genus Leucojum

Herbs, perennial , scapose , from brown, globose to ovoid , tunicate bulb. Leaves several; blade linear-ligulate, base sheathing . Scape stout, hollow [slender, solid]. Inflorescences umbellate , 2-5(-7) -flowered, spathaceous ; spathe bracts 2, free or entirely adnate on 1 side, appearing monophyllous . Flowers nodding ; perianth campanulate ; tepals 6, distinct , oblanceolate to ovate , equal; stamens 6, distinct; anthers basifixed , conic, longer than filaments , blunt apically, dehiscing by terminal pores ; ovary inferior, green, 3-locular, globose, septal nectaries present; style filiform or clavate , exceeding anthers; stigma minutely capitate. Fruits capsular , erect , pyriform to subglobose, dehiscence loculicidal; pericarp somewhat fleshy . Seeds numerous , black, appendages absent. x = 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Species ca. 10: introduced ; c, sw Europe, nw Africa, and sw Asia (Armenia, Crimea) ; introduced elsewhere.

Several species of Leucojum are cultivated for their flowers. Although other species such as L. autumnale Linnaeus (autumn snowflake) and L. vernum Linnaeus (spring snowflake) may persist in old gardens, only the commonly cultivated L. aestivum (summer snowflake) is known definitely to be naturalized in the flora . There are unconfirmed reports that L. vernum is naturalized in the panhandle area of Florida.

Leucojum is sometimes confused with Galanthus, a spring-flowering, Eurasian relative, but it differs in that Leucojum has perianth segments that are all equal in size, and hollow stems that are usually taller and bear 2-5 flowers. In the southern states, the common name snowdrop, which usually refers to Galanthus species, is applied to Leucojum.

Leaves and bulbs of Leucojum contain the alkaloids lycorine and galanthamine, and are poisonous.[2]

Physical Description

Habitat

Roadsides, fields , waste places; 0--500 m ; introduced [3].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,023 meters (0 to 3,356 feet).[4]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 15-18" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : L. Publication : Systema Naturae 1759 (May-Jun. 1759)

Similar Species

Members of the genus Leucojum

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

L. aestivum (Dewdrop) · L. aestivum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) · L. aestivum pulchellum (Summer Snowflake) · L. aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' (Dewdrop) · L. aestivum subsp. pulchellum (Summer Snowflake) · L. autumnale (Autumn Snowflake) · L. autumnale 'Cobb's Variety' (Autumn Snowflake) · L. capitulatum (Palm-Grass) · L. nicaeense (Mentone) · L. pulchellum (Summer Snowflake) · L. roseum (Snowflake) · L. vernum (Spring Snowflake) · L. vernum var. carpathicum (Spring Snowflake) · L. vernum var. vagneri (Spring Snowflake)

More Info

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Further Reading

• 1997 IUCN red list of threatened plants Cambridge: IUCN, World Conservation Union, 1998 url p. 618.
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• A manual of poisonous plants: chiefly of eastern North America, with brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations / by L. H. Pammel. 1911 Cedar Rapids, Ia.: The Torch Press, 1910-11. url p. 949.
• A natural arrangement of British plants: according to their relations to each other as pointed out by Jussieu, De Candolle, Brown, &c.. .. / with an introduction to botany. .. By Samuel Frederick Gray. .. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1821. url p. 156.
• A new British flora: British wild flowers in their natural haunts / described by A. R. Horwood; with sixty-four plates in colour representing 350 different plants, from drawings by J. N. Fitch and many illustrations from photographs. London: Gresham, 1919. url p. 222.
• A new British flora; British wild flowers in their natural haunts, described by A. R. Horwood, with 64 plates in col. representing 350 different plants, from drawings by J. N. Fitch and many illus. from photo. London, Gresham Pub. Co., 1919. url p. 222.
• A new London flora; or, Handbook to the botanical localities of the metropolitan districts. Compiled from the latest authorities, and from personal observations. London, Hardwick and Bogue, 1877. url p. 178.
• Addisonia: colored illustrations and popular descriptions of plants. New York: New York Botanical Garden, 1916-[1964]. url p. 86.
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• An illustrated dictionary of medicine, biology and allied sciences. .. by George M. Gould. 5th ed., with additions and corrections. PhiladelphiaP. Blakiston's Son1907 url p. 333.
• Annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of New York state, by Homer D. House. Albany, The University of the state of New York, 1924. url p. 231.
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Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 12, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Australian National Herbarium
• , Australian National Herbarium
• Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Herbarium Willing
• Bundesamt für Naturschutz / Zentralstelle für Phytodiversität Deutschland, Bundesamt fuer Naturschutz / Zentralstelle fuer Phytodiversitaet Deutschland
• Comisión nacional para el conocimiento y uso de la biodiversidad, Herbario del Instituto de Ecología, A.C., México
• Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien
• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• GBIF-Spain, Jardín Botánico de Córdoba: Herbarium COA
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Lund Botanical Museum
• The Swedish Museum of Natural History
• , Plants
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Botanical Society of the British Isles - Vascular Plants Database
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Environment and Heritage Service - EHS Species Datasets
• US National Plant Germplasm System, United States National Plant Germplasm System Collection
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Alabama Biodiversity and Systematics, Herbarium

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2667819
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Kew-280491
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:65743-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 21975
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 503422
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 65743-1
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMLIL19010
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: LEAEA
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 46974

Footnotes

1. Zhanhe Ji & Alan W. Meerow "Amaryllidaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 264. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Gerald B. Straley  & Frederick H. Utech "Leucojum". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 55, 280, 293. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. "Leucojum aestivum". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 286, 293. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
4. Mean = 96.440 meters (316.404 feet), Standard Deviation = 114.280 based on 1,207 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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