6oo 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



When the flower stalk first appears, it comes up like a sheathed sword, 

 pointing toward the zenith, green .veined lengthwise, and with a noticeable 

 thickening at each edge. As the petals grow, the sheath begins to round 

 out ; and then as if to confuse those people who are so stupid as to believe 

 that plants do not really do things, the stiff stem at the base of the sheath 



bends at right angles. This brings a strain 

 upon the sheath which bursts it, usually 

 along the upper side, although sometimes 

 it tears it off completely at the base. The 

 slitted sheath, or spathe, hangs around 

 the stem, wrinkled and parchment-like, 

 very like the loose wrist of a suede glove. 

 The stalk is a strong green tube; the 

 leaves are fleshy and are grooved on the 

 inner side, the groove being deep enough 

 to clasp part way around the flower stem. 

 The number of leaves varies with the 

 variety, and they are usually as tall as 

 the flower stalk. There is one flower on a 

 stalk in the daffodils and the poet's nar- 

 cissus, but the jonquils and paper-white 

 narcissus have two or more flowers on the 

 same stalk. 



A bed should be prepared by digging 

 deep and fertilizing with stable manure. 

 The bulbs should be planted in September 

 or early October, and should be from four 

 to six inches apart, the upper end of the 

 bulbs at least four inches below the sur- 

 face of the soil. They should not be 

 disturbed but allowed to occupy the bed 

 for a number of years, or as long as they 

 give plenty of flowers. As soon as the 

 Daffodil showing detail of ftoiver. surface of the ground is frozen in the win- 

 fa, sepals and ter, the beds should be covered from four 

 to six inches in depth with straw-mixed 

 stable manure, which can be raked off 

 very early in the spring. 



The new bulbs are formed at the sides of the old one; for this reason 

 the daffodils will remain permanently planted, and do not lift themselves 

 out of the ground like the crocuses. The leaves of the plant should be 

 allowed to stand as long as they will after the flowers have disappeared, so 

 that they may furnish the bulbs with plenty of food for storing. The 

 seeds should not be allowed to ripen, as it costs the plant too much 

 energy and thus robs the bulbs. The flowers should be cut just as they 

 are opening. Of the white varieties, the poet's narcissus is the most 

 satisfactory, as it is very hardy and very pretty, its corona being a shallow, 

 flaring, greenish yellow rosette with orange-red border, the anthers of its 

 three longest stamens making a pretty center. No wonder Narcissus bent 

 over the pool in joy at viewing himself, if he was as beautiful a man as 

 the poet's narcissus is as a flower. 



a, corona or crown; 

 petals forming perianth; c, corolla tube; 

 d, ovary or seed-case; e, sheath or 

 spathe. 



