Galanthus reginae-olgae epithet "reginae-olgae" means 'of Queen Olga'; Olga Constantinovna of Russia was then Queen of Greece. The species (or when divided into subspecies, its autonymous subspecies) has been treated as "Galanthus nivalis" subsp. "reginae-olgae". Other regularly used synonyms include "G. olgae" and "G. corcyrensis". The name "Galanthus corcyrensis" has been particularly used for plants that flower in the autumn with the leaves rather than before them. The species has been divided into two subspecies, distinguished by the time of flowering: There is however no sharp division between these two subspecies. "Galanthus reginae-olgae" is native to Sicily and parts of the Balkans,
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