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Galanthus ikariae

(Snowdrop)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Snowdrop

Description

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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 Galanthus

Herbs, perennial , scapose , from brown, tunicate , ovoid to globose bulbs; offset bulbs often present. Leaves 2(-3), basal, opposite, with sheathing blade , vernation flat and parallel, or convolute; nonsheathing blade erect to recurving at maturity, grayish green, linear-oblanceolate, glaucous; sheathing blade white, tubular , membranous, enclosing leaf bases and scape. Scape erect in flower, prostrate in fruit, green, solid. Inflorescences pendulous, 1-flowered, spathaceous ; spathe bracteate , membranous; bracts 2, connate , split on 1 side. Flowers nodding , fragrant; perianath 2.5 cm or shorter; tepals 6, distinct , unequal; outer tepals spreading , white, narrowly obovate to almost orbicular , larger than inner; inner tepals overlapping, appearing tubular, green-spotted at apex only or apex and base, straight to semiorbicular, apex notched ; stamens 6, inserted at bases of tepals, distinct; anthers basifixed , longer than filaments , bases lobed , apices tapered, dehiscense introrse , via terminal slits; ovary inferior, green, 3-locular, globose, septal nectaries present; style, white, unbranched, filiform ; stigma indistinct to minutely capitate; pedicel wiry, short, slender. Fruits capsular , green, globose, fleshy , dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds 18-36, light brown, 3.5 mm, oblong to obtuse , elaiosomes fleshy. x = 12.

Species 14-17: introduced ; Europe, sw Asia (Asia Minor , Iranian Caucasus, and Caspian Sea regions) ; introduced and naturalized elsewhere.

A number of Galanthus species, especially G. nivalis, are commonly cultivated for their late- winter and early-spring flowers, which emerge through the snow. Species of Galanthus are sometimes confused with Leucojum, snowflakes, a spring-flowering relative. The plants of Leucojum are usually taller, bear 2-3 flowers per stem, and their tepals are all equal.[2]

Physical Description

Flowers: Bloom Period: January, February, March, December. • Flower Color: green, near white, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: under 6" tall.

Habitat

Ecology: In the wild, G. ikariae is mainly confined to wet, shady places at altitudes above 600 m , where it escapes the severity of the hot, dry Aegean summer. Populations of G. ikariae are commonly found in close proximity to a water-source, usually in deep shade on sloping ground . Small river gorges with rather luxuriant vegetation, including deciduous trees , are a frequent habitat . In these locations Galanthus ikariae is often found growing through Ivy (Hedera sp. ) or with Cyclamen hederifolium. Sometimes G. ikariae is found on flat, wet areas in deep soil at the bottom of gorges, where it attains a much larger size. Plants growing in such situations in Andros, have leaves of up to 3 cm wide and 50 cm long. Galanthus ikariae is not totally confined to river gorges and it also grows at the edge of scrub and woodland. On Skyros, for example, G. ikariae can be found in the shade of macchie, with the Cretan maple (Acer sempervirens). It is also found in the shade of large boulders , between rocks, and at the base of rocky outcrops. In all habitats, G. ikariae is most frequently recorded on soils overlying either limestone or metamorphic rocks, such as schist.[3].

List of Habitats:

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

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

Taxonomy

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Notes

Publishing author : Baker Publication : Gard. Chron. (1893) i. 506.

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 06-Jan-2005

 

Galanthus ikariae is frequently confused with other green-leafed snowdrops, and particularly G. woronowii, which are often considered as constituting one species. While it is true that these species can often appear to be very alike, there should be no real reason for confusion. The inner perianth mark of G. ikariae is very large and bold, as stated above, and even when the mark is a similar shape to that of G. woronowii (see below) it still usually covers a larger area of the segment. Galanthus ikariae also has leaves that are dark matt-green, and not bright green like those of G. woronowii. A further means of telling these species apart is by looking at transverse sections of the leaves, as the leaf anatomy of each species is quite different. When a leaf of G. ikariae is sectioned and examined under a microscope, large air-spaces are evident and the mesophyll cells (the cells making up the bulk of the leaf tissue) are loosely arranged with large spaces between them. The air-spaces can be clearly seen with either the naked eye or a x10 hand lens , when the leaf is cut in half with a knife or pair of scissors. The leaves of G. woronowii, and all other broad-, green-leafed snowdrops, do not display this feature, but instead the leaf-blade has very small air-spaces which are either invisible or barely discernible to the naked eye. As a rule-of-thumb test, it is possible to fit a dress-maker’s pin into the air-spaces of G. ikariae, with little or no difficulty. Molecular studies (Lledo et al. 2004) demonstrate that G. ikariae and G. woronowii are separate species.


Since its discovery on the island of Ikaria, G. ikariae has been collected from at least three other Aegean islands, including Andros, Naxos, and Skyros; further collections have also been made on Ikaria.
(Davis 1999, 2001; Lledo et al. 2004)[3].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Galanthus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 35 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

G. byzantinus (Snowdrop) · G. corcyrensis (Snowdrop) · G. elewesii (Giant Snowdrop) · G. elwesii (Greater Snowdrop) · G. gracilis (Snowdrop) · G. ikariae (Snowdrop) · G. ikariae 'Lady Beatrix Stanley' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis (Bucaneve) · G. nivalis f. pleniflorus (Common Snowdrop) · G. nivalis nivalis (Common Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Blewbury Tart' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Flore Pleno' (Double Common Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Lady Elphinstone' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Pewsey Vale' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Scharlockii Group' (Donkeys Ears Snowdrops) · G. nivalis 'Virescens' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'Warei' (Snowdrop) · G. nivalis 'White Dream' (Snowdrop) · G. plicatus (Pleated Snowdrop) · G. plicatus 'Bill Clarke' (Pleated Snowdrop) · G. plicatus 'Colossus' (Pleated Snowdrop) · G. plicatus 'Sophie North' (Pleated Snowdrop) · G. plicatus 'Trym' (Pleated Snowdrop) · G. plicatus 'Wendy's Gold' (Wendy's Gold Pleated Snowdrop) · G. reginae-olgae (Snowdrop) · G. woronowii (Snowdrop) · G. 'Atkinsii' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Augustus' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Ketton' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Magnet' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Maidwell L' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Ophelia' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Sam Arnott' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Straffan' (Snowdrop) · G. 'Viridapice' (Snowdrop)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 03, 2007:

Identifiers

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 "Galanthus". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 55, 280, 293. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Davis, A. 2011. Galanthus ikariae. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/21/2012