Galanthus in the north, Italy, northern Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and European Turkey. It has been introduced and is widely naturalised elsewhere. Although it is often thought of as a British native wild flower, or to have been brought to the British Isles by the Romans, it was probably introduced around the early 16th century and is currently not a protected species in the UK. It was first recorded as naturalised in the UK in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in 1770. Most other "Galanthus" species are from the eastern Mediterranean, but several are found in southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. "Galanthus
Chlamydomonas nivalis have been found on the surface of "C. nivalis" cysts. The unknown bacteria were not detected in control samples that did not contain "C. nivalis" which strongly suggests that it must be associated with the algae. Another bacterium, "Mesorhizobium loti", was found as contamination in a "C. nivalis" culture, but further testing suggested that this bacteria may be synthesizing vitamin B12 for the algae. In cryoconite holes "C. nivalis" can be found among bacteria, virus-like particles, ciliates, and Chlorophyte species. Ice worms have also been found to live preferentially under "C. nivalis" in glaciers, possibly using the algae as a