Wednesday 22 January 2014

Snowdrops: ID is as important as phenology! 

Galanthus nivalis at Welford
Image: M. Crawley
Lots of interest recently - in print and social media  - about whether snowdrops are in flower early this year. But far less being written about how to identify which species or cultivar is under observation! 

So, may I point you all in the direction of Prof Mick Crawley's excellent Snowdrop ID key? It's one of many useful training resources here on our identification page.

If you've used the Snowdrop Key before, you'll know how helpful it is, especially if you are just getting started with identifying plants. So this is a reminder to try it again this spring. 

If you haven't tried the Snowdrop Key yet - it's free, easy to download and easy to use. You are welcome to try it out, whether for personal interest or as a teaching aid (but no commercial use, please). Have a go - it's fun and a great excuse to get outdoors for a while! 

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful site for us to peruse here in Cambridge, Massachusetts! Many thanks for the lovely photos and up-to-date data -- plant enthusiasts and researchers in New England will appreciate your tremendous work in maintaining the site and blogs. In reading about Professor Crawley and his Snowdrop key, prompted me to mention our Massachusetts maven, Mr. Jon Shaw, who will be speaking to the eminent Horticultural Club of Boston about his collection of Galanthus in February. His garden displays the largest and most astonishing collection of Snowdrops on the East Coast of the USA.

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  2. Hi Julie - thank you for the kind words, I'm so glad you are enjoying the Blog and BSBI website. Great to hear from fellow plant enthusiasts and researchers "across the pond"! Please keep in touch and let our members know about botanical delights they can enjoy if visiting USA.
    For any of our members who don't recognise her name, Julie is based at Harvard University, where she is Team Leader (Global Plants Initiative) and also Team Leader - Curatorial Assistant III at the Harvard University Herbaria. I am, as we say over here, chuffed to bits that Julie likes this Blog!

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