Leucojum aestivum
Summer Snowflake
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Genus
- Leucojum
- Height
- 0.5 m
- Spread
- 0.12 m
- Fertility
- Bees
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
- Pollinators
- Bees
Uses
Edible uses
Bulb - cooked[2]. I have some reservations about this report, though no records of the plant being poisonous have been found so far.
- Plant part
- Root
Environment
- Range
- Europe, including Britain, from France south and east to Spain, Greece, the Crimea and Iran.
- Habitat
- Marshes, wet meadows and willow thickets, avoiding acid soils[4].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- high
- Hardiness
- Zone 4+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay, heavy clay
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
The seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a well-drained soil in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 2 - 3 months cold stratification, it should then germinate in 2 - 4 weeks at 10°c[3]. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be allowed to grow on undisturbed in the pots for their first year of growth. Give them an occasional weak liquid feed to ensure that they do not become nutrient deficient. Pot up the small bulbs when dormant, planting 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another 2 - 3 years before planting them out. Division of offsets in September/October. It is best done as soon as the foliage ripens[1]. Scooping the bulbs.
Cultivation
Easily grown in ordinary garden soil[1]. It does well in a moist heavy soil in full sun or partial shade[1][4][8][9] and is happy in water-logged conditions[9]. The dormant bulbs are fairly hardy and will withstand soil temperatures down to at least -5°c[6]. Plants can be naturalized in damp rough grass[5]. Flowers are produced within 4 - 5 years from seed. The seedpods are swollen and filled with air so that they can be dispersed by floating in water[9]. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer or rabbits[7].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988-00-00
Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Matthews. V. The New Plantsman. Volume 1, 1994. Royal Horticultural Society 1994-00-00 ISBN 1352-4186
Thomas. G. S. Perennial Garden Plants J. M. Dent & Sons, London. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0 460 86048 8
Brown. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland.
Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Bulbs Pan Books 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-330-30253-1