NARCISSUS 



THE BULB BOOK 



NARCISSUS 



and has bulbs about 1 in. through, 

 and narrow blue-green leaves about 1 

 ft. long. The beautiful white solitary 

 flowers, H to 2 ins. across, have 

 spreading petals, and a very shallow 

 saucer-shaped corona distinctly edged 

 with red or orange. {Red. Lil. 

 t. 160.) 



Fig. 1~Z.— Narcissus poeticus. 



There are several varieties, amongst 

 the best known being : — Albatross, 

 white ; citron - yellow cup edged 

 orange-red. A Imira (or King Ediva rd 

 VII.), snow-white, with canary- 

 yellow cup rimmed with red. JJi- 

 florus, creamy-white ; pale yellow cup. 

 Grandiflora prcecox, Avhite ; cup 

 edged crimson. Ornatus, broad pure 

 white petals ; cup edged scarlet ; 

 sweet-scented. A fine early variety 

 grown in thousands by market 

 gardeners. Poetaruvi, an improved 

 early form like the type. Recur vus, a 

 late - flowering variety with petals 

 somewhat reflexed. 



In addition to these single-flowered 



varieties mention must be made of 

 the pure double-white form, called 

 alba i^lena odorata. or the " Gardenia- 

 flowered Narcissus," as the rosettes of 

 pure white overlapping petals suggest 

 this flower. This variety is the last 

 of all ihej^oeticus to flower — often well 

 into June. It has been developed 

 from a variety called patellaris, and 

 when it flowers freely is one of the 

 best varieties for selling. Unfortun- 

 ately it often comes "blind," that is 

 to say, the flower-stems appear, but 

 the blossom never emerges from the 

 papery spathe at the top. The 

 only cure for this defect seems to be 

 to move the bulbs every year to a 

 fresh place, selecting well - drained 

 soil of a rich loamy nature. The 

 ways in which iV. poeticus and varie- 

 ties may be used are numerous — 

 borders, rockeries, grassland, wood- 

 lands, by the sides of lakes, ponds, or 

 streams, and as pot plants, are a few. 



N. Pseudo-narcissus. — This is the 

 Common Trumpet, Ajax, or Lent 

 Lily, a native of the copses and pas- 

 tures in parts of England. The bulbs 

 are 1 to Ij ins. through, and the 

 narrow blue-green leaves are about 

 1 ft. long. The solitary flowers 

 appear in March and April on stems 

 over a foot high, the oblong petals 

 being pale sulphur-yellow and over 

 1 in. long, while the plaited corona 

 or trumpet is lemon-yellow and about 

 1 in. across the irregularly crenated 

 mouth. 



There are several wild varieties of 

 the Lent Lily, such as cambriciis, 

 sulphur- white, with a yellow trumpet ; 

 lobidaris, a uniform lemon-yellow, 

 with a six-lobed trumpet ; pal/idus 

 2)rcecox, an early Pyrenean form, with 

 flowers varying from pale lemon- 

 yellow to white ; rugilohus, primrose- 

 yellow, with large yellow trumpet ; 

 scoticiis, known as the "Garland 

 Lily," similar to the type, but earlier ; 

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