Snowdrops are native to Europe and the Middle East. Their first cultivation in England was recorded in the 16th century, although some believe that they were brought over much earlier by Norman monks. Initially, they were grown in churchyards for Candlemas Day (the Christian festival of lights on February 2nd) and in Abbeys as a medical plant for the treatment of head problems.
Snowdrops belong to a small genus of about 20 species of plants in the Amaryllidaceae family, which also includes daffodils, onions, and chives. Carl Linnaeus named the common snowdrop ‘Galanthus nivalis’, the ‘milk flower of the snow’ in 1753.