The snowflakes are often likened to snowdrops, but similarity is really not very great. The hanging flowers have six petals (strictly tepals), each with a green or yellow mark near the tip. There are so-called spring and summer species, in reality flowering in late winter and spring. Other species, including some flowering in autumn, have been moved to the genus Acis.

Leucojum aestivum 'Gravetye Giant' has a name that means summer-flowering, but that is only relative to Leucojum vernum, the spring snowflake, which does its thing very early in the year. The summer snowflake (a contradiction in terms) is much taller, and this is a particularly vigorous form.