Fragrant white flowers contain a green hour glass mark on the inner whorl of petals above relatively wide glossy green leaves. Like other snowdrops, this is an ideal candidate for naturalizing underneath the canopy of large deciduous trees like oaks and maples where it completes its life cycle before they leaf out in spring.

An extract of the leaves, galanthamine, is used in some European countries to treat Alzheimer's Disease. Other compounds are toxic, the reason while chipmunks, squirrels and deer avoid these bulbs.