Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Snow-drop

SNOW-DROP, the Common, or Fair-Maids-of-February, Galanthus nivalis, L. a native perennial plant, growing in orchards, meadows, and the sides of hedges; flowering in February and March.

The snow-drop presents a beautiful little flower, and is chiefly esteemed on account of its early appearance; adorning the garden, when the soil is covered with snow: it is divided into three varieties, known under the names of single, semi-double, and double, which differ only in the seasons of their flowering. They may be easily propagated in any soil, and will multiply exceedingly by offsets from the roots.

The roots of the snow-drop may be made subservient to an useful domestic purpose: Dr. Darwin thinks that, if they were dug up in the winter, and prepared in a similar manner, they might atford a nutritious powder, resembling that of salep. He observes, that he once boiled a few; which on tasting them, possessed no unpleasant flavour. He is therefore of opinion, that, if prolific seeds could be procured from this plant, it might be advantageously cultivated for the same purposes as the Orchis; a conjecture which is corroborated by the experiments of Gleditsch, who obtained from the roots of the snow-drop, an excellent starch.