Galanthus description as "Viola alba" or "Viola bulbosa" using Pliny's translation, and comments that the plant had originated in Italy and had "taken possession" in England "many years past". The genus was formally named "Galanthus" and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, with the single species, "Galanthus nivalis", which is the type species. Consequently, Linnaeus is granted the botanical authority. In doing so, he distinguished this genus and species from "Leucojum" ("Leucojum bulbosum trifolium minus"), a name by which it had been previously known. In 1763 Adanson began a system of arranging genera in families. Using the synonym "Acrocorion" (also spelt
Luzula nivalis ellipsoidal, smooth, brown and 1.0–1.2 × 0.6–0.7 mm in size. Basel appendages are fibrillate and up to 0.2 mm long. The fruit of "L. nivalis" is sessile and dry with a persistent and glabrous calyx. The rosette-like whorl of short leaves in "Luzula nivalis" allows it to easily be distinguished from "Luzula confusa". "Luzula nivalis" has been described as having an 'arctic-alpine circumpolar' distribution, as "L. nivalis" is an alpine plant which grows in the arctic regions of the northern hemisphere. Places which "L. nivalis" grows in include Norway, Sweden, Finland and Svalbard. "Luzula nivalis" has been found in a