Novelty 'Lady Elphinstone' actually Allium paradoxum !

[apothecary]

Check out what I have as 'Lady Elphinstone'!  Isn't it gorgeous?

So much nicer than what I expected from the picture in the book!

[Anthony Darby]

Nice, but not a Galanthus of any sort.

[Alan_b]

Lovely!  What is it really?

[Paddy Tobin]

Leucojum vernum, perhaps?

Paddy

[apothecary]

No, it doesn't resemble a Leucojum.  It's more like a Scilla although I'm not particularly good at bulbs in general.  We're not actually supposed to have any cultivated plants in Springwoods apart from Galanthus.

[apothecary]

No, it doesn't resemble a Leucojum. 

Well, it doesn't resemble a normal L. vernum anyway, but I've found a few suggestive Leucojum forms after a google search.

Whatever it is, it's pretty malformed.

[Anthony Darby]

Perhaps a view of the whole plant may help?

[apothecary]

Good idea, I forget I have a privileged view.

[apothecary]

Oh sorry, I forgot to say, the background leaves are very definitely Galanthesk, only the leaf to the right belongs to this flower.

Any chance the Galanthus leaves could be the 'Lady Elphinstone' I was after in the first place?  They seem short and late.

[Anthony Darby]

The papery spathe reminds me of alliums for some reason. Lady E. is a nivalis, so they could be? I seem to remember tight clumps of double snowdrops refusing to flower but respond well to being divided. One of mine is flowering now in a trough but the others are still in tight bud in my west-facing border.

[apothecary]

Yes, that's what I think.  It has the right petal shape with a slight rib down the middle and the flowers are quite translucent.  Any idea of possible species?  I wouldn't know one from another myself.

[Maggi Young]

Might it be an Ornithogalum?

[Diane Clement]

The papery spathe reminds me of alliums for some reason.

I agree with Anthony.  The bracts definitely suggest Allium and I would go for Allium paradoxum.  Try crushing the end of the leaf - and check whether it has a stong garlic smell. 

[apothecary]

The bracts definitely suggest Allium and I would go for Allium paradoxum. 

I do believe you're absolutely right.  There isn't a very strong allium smell (or I would hope I'd have noticed it before ), but it is there and google image offers a significant number of pictures which perfectly resemble the flower.

Thanks for the help, maybe we'll add it to the collection.

[Diane Clement]

Thanks for the help, maybe we'll add it to the collection.

I'd do this cautiously.  There are two forms of Allium paradoxum: var paradoxum which forms bulbils in the flower head and is an invasive pest; and var normale which does not form bulbils and is not invasive by bulbils although spreads itself around by seed.  I think A var normale is quite an attractive thing, with the broad leaves and crystalline white flowers.  A very knowledgeable authority once said to me, that if you found you had A paradoxum var paradoxum in your garden there was only one cure: "Move house". 
Caveat emptor  ...