Taxonomy
Chionodoxa is distinguished from the closely related genus Scilla by two features: the tepals are joined at their bases to form a tube rather than being free; and the stamens have flattened stalks (filaments), which look almost like a cup in the centre of the flower. These differences are not considered by some botanists as sufficient to create a separate genus, and Chionodoxa species are often included in Scilla.
The taxonomy of the genus is confused. Several of the species are very similar, and the number of species recognized as distinct varies significantly from one source to another. For example, plants occurring in Crete have at one time or another been put into three species: C. albescens, C. cretica and C. nana. Sfikas' Wild flowers of Crete recognizes only two of these (C. cretica and C. nana); the Natural History Museum's checklist of the Cretan Flora recognizes only one (C. nana, as Scilla nana). The Royal Horticultural Society distinguishes between C. forbesii and C. siehei; other botanists recognize only C. forbesii.
Assuming there are six species, as listed below, three occur in west Turkey, one in south-west Turkey, one in Crete and one in Cyprus. Garden plants have naturalised outside of their native range, e.g. in the UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. A natural hybrid C. siehei x C. luciliae also occurs.
Read more about this topic: Chionodoxa