some help in ID please

[Arum]

I would like some help please in identifying this single that has popped up amongst a group of galanthus bought as riginae-olgae and planted 15 years or more ago. It has a distinct yellow v marking on the inner segment & a yellow ovary.These are my earliest galanthus blooming well before the gray leaves appear.
Edna

[Lesley Cox]

Looks like a nice one Edna, with that yellow colouring.

[Arum]

Yes it is such a clear yellow. I was so excited to find it Leslie.
Now that I have a done a bit of research myself I have a feeling the original bulbs were wrongly labelled and that they may be G. nivalis. Looking forward to hearing from those more knowledgeable than I.
Edna

[Alan_b]

The leaves appear to be Galanthus elwesii.  Galanthus elwesii has leaves which emerge with one leaf that enfolds the other like the leaves of a tulip.  The technical term for this is "supervolute vernation".   Whereas nivalis and reginae olgae have leaves that are pressed flat against each other as they emerge, like the leaves of a daffodil.  The technical term for this is "applanate vernation".  From the curvature of the leaf in the foreground I don't have any doubt that what you have is Galanthus elwesii.

A small minority of cultivated G. elwesii are autumn-flowering, from late October onwards in the south of the UK.  Those with a single mark on the inner petals ("var. monostictus") would fall into the Hiemalis Group.  This type has been classified as a group because there is a sufficient number that not all are deemed worthy of a formal name.  So what you have is Galanthus elwesii.  It might just make it into the late end of the Hiemalis Group or it might be too late.

Cultivars of Galanthus elwesii with yellow markings are almost unknown.  There is one called "Carolyn Elwes" which also has some yellow on the leaves but you don't have that.  So if what you have found is repeatedly yellow from one year to the next you have something that is very rare and would have galanthophiles begging you for offsets.  HOWEVER snowdrops that emerge suddenly from underneath some obstruction that was shading them can appear yellow like yours as a one-off, never to be repeated.  The phenomenon is popularly known as a "cowpat yellow".  So one should always be wary of getting too excited about a snowdrop with yellow markings until one has observed it for more than a single year.     

 



   

[Brian Ellis]

One thing you don't tell us Edna, is whether it just popped up this year and this is the only flower?  As Alan says the leaves of the surrounding bulbs look like elwesii or a hybrid but if they were the originals from fifteen years ago and this is the first time you have seen the yellow marked flower then it could be a seedling from somewhere...do you have other galanthus in the garden?

[Arum]

Yes I do have other galanthus Brian but they are all out in the back garden, behind the house, about 25 metres from these plants which are in the front garden.I have a collection of various doubles & a wide border of an elwesii - a larger plant than the one out the front. These are all only just emerging from the soil - leaves & buds together. This is the first year I have noticed the particular flower I have posted & yes it appears to be the only yellow one. It is surrounded by flowers with green markings & the same leaves & more seed pods than I have seen before in that patch . Much of this clump had finished flowering before I took a close look - maybe there were others - I will certainly take more notice next year.
Edna

[Arum]

Alan, I thank you for your thoughts &  comments - & much appreciate your expertise.
As far as I can see there is no obstruction below the soil & I have not mulched the garden this season. It is becoming dark outside so I'll have to wait til morning before I go out to peer at it yet again. Your reply is so full of interesting information I look forward to going over it in detail again tomorrow.
Edna

[Maggi Young]

Edna, I love that you have already marked the stem with thread to be able to find it later!
There do not seem to be any leaves associated with the yellow flower stem -  is that odd, you Galanthophiles?

[Alan_b]

'Early' snowdrop bulbs generally throw up a stem and come into flower rapidly.  The leaves can get left behind in the rush.  Some forms are more likely to flower ahead of the leaves but it can vary from year to year or (I think) from one locale to another.

Different forms of elwesii can vary greatly in stature as well as in the extent of the marking(s) on the inner petals.  Of course, as Brian says, it could be a hybrid but if so it still owes a lot to elwesii.

Here is a picture from my garden on 25th October 2014 showing early elwesii 'Peter Gatehouse' with some reginae-olgae in the background.

[Arum]

Alan & Brian thanks again to you both. I feel I have learned an awful lot over the last few days from the information you have both given me. Certainly more than I have known about galanthus before. I'm very happy to just keep observing my little surprise for another season or two yet - whether it be rare or not - either way I must say I would be thrilled to have something 'different'. I shall keep you informed.
Edna

[Alan_b]

The very best of luck, Edna.  However I should warn you that most of us who actively look for new snowdrop varieties have at some time found a 'transitory yellow' - a snowdrop that is yellow one year but is either green thereafter or (probably more frequently) perishes and is never seen again.