Tad. 0950. 



NARCISSUS CYCLAMINEUS. 

 Native of Portugal. 



Nat. Ord. Amabyllide .e. — Tribe Amaeylle.e. 

 Genus Narcissus, Linn.; {Benth. el HooTc.f. Gen. PL vol. iii. p. 718.) 



Nahcisstjs (Ajax) cyclamineus ; bulbo parvo globoso tunicis pallidis, foliis 2-3 

 linearibus subereetis dorso late carinatis, scapo unifloro subtereti, pedicello 

 brevi ssepissime cernuo, perianthio tubo brevissimo obconico, segmentis 

 anguste oblongis citrinis valde reflexis, corona saturatiori segmentis eqaiUraga 

 vel paulo longiori ore erecto crenato, staminibus rectis conniventibus corona 

 distincte brevioribus, fructu turbinato. 



Ajax cyclamineus, Haworth Monogr. Narciss. p. 2. 



This very distinct Narcissus has Lad a remarkable 

 history. It is figured rudely in the " Jardin du Roy tres 

 chrestien Louis XIII." of Pierre Vallet, published at Paris 

 in 1G23; and afterwards better iu the anonymous 

 " Theatrum Floras," published at Paris in 1G37, under the 

 name of " Narcissus liispanicus minor luteus amplo calico 

 foliis reflexis." This latter work must not be confounded 

 with the well-known " Theatrum " of our countryman 

 Parkinson. Then it appears to have been entirely lost 

 sight of for 250 years. Herbert looked upon it as an 

 " absurdity that would never be found to exist." Haworth, 

 who first named it cyclamineus in his monograph of 1838, 

 issued as a supplement to the fourth volume of Sweet's 

 British Flower Garden, knew it only from the excellent 

 figure in the "Theatrum," which is reproduced in a paper 

 by Mr. F. W. Burbidge in the " Gardener's Chronicle " of 

 December 19th, 1885 (page 789, fig. 185). Just about the 

 same time that this paper appeared, the plant was refound 

 in the neighbourhood of Oporto by Mr. Edwin Johnston, 

 and it has since been seen by Mr. A. W. Tait growing 

 plentifully in sandy loam on the banks of a stream at an 

 altitude of 300 feet above sea-level. A full account of the 

 plant will be found in Mr. Tait's recently-published " Notes 

 on the Narcissi of Portugal," p. 4, 5, and as he has distri- 



AT/GUST 1st, 1887. 



