This is the first full-length monograph on Galanthus since 1956 and represents the most comprehensive study undertaken on the genus. The work documents the eighteen species, their subspecies and varieties, and describes the most important of the more than 500 named cultivars. The introductory chapters deal with the taxonomic history, morphology, anatomy, cytology, pollination, ecology, conservation, and cultivation. The main emphasis is the taxonomy chapter, which provides a new classification for the genus and gives detailed information on each of the species. The cultivars chapter consists of concise accounts of the better known and more widely available cultivars and those that have been recorded in literature. Precise maps clearly show the distribution of each species.