Syn.: Nivaria aestivalis Moench, Polyanthemum aestivale (Moench) Bubani
Family: Amaryllidaceae Jaume St.-Hil.
Distribution: Southern, western and central Europe (formerly northward to southern Poland), western Asia – from Ireland to northern Iran.
Ecology: It grows on wet meadows and marshes, along margins of riparian forests, in lowlands. It flowers in mid-spring, sometimes until June.
Description: Perennial herb with a bulb 25–40 mm in diameter. Leaves up to 10 cm × 5–20 mm, broadly linear, scape 35–50(–60) cm, equalling the leaves or slightly shorter, stout, 2-winged. Umbel of (1–)2–5(–7) flowers, spathe 30–50 mm, pedicels 25–70 mm, the longest equalling or exceeding the spathe, perianth-segments white, with a green spot just below the thickened apex. The fruit is a capsule.
Threat and protection: The Summer Snowflake is protected by law in Czechia, Hungary, France, Switzerland, Ukraine and Russia.
Use: Widely cultivated for ornament, and naturalized both within and outside its native range.
These images were taken in Czechia, Moravia, Dolní Podyjí (April 16 and 18, 2004; May 2, 2008).
