Its common name, "snow crocus", derives from its exceptionally early flowering period, blooming about two weeks before the giant crocus,[specify] and often emerging through the snow in late winter or early spring.

[5] It is native to southeastern Europe and Turkey, and is an introduced species in Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Great Britain.

Blue and white cultivars are hybrids or selections close to Crocus biflorus.

[citation needed] An intensive hybridisation and selection programme was initiated by Jan Hoog (Van Tubergen nursery) and E.A.

Examples include the following:[7] Those cultivars marked agm have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.