NARCISSUS 



THE BULB BOOK 



NARCISSUS 



white, edged golden. Rowena, large 

 trumpet, silvery white flushed peach. 

 Snowjlake, white ; trumpet tinged 

 apricot. 



The forms of iY. Pseudo-narcissns 

 are much confused, and many of 

 them are placed under various head- 

 ings by different growers. The 

 reader will find those not mentioned 

 above under such headings as iT. 

 bicolor, i\^. major, N. moschahis, and 

 iV^. mutiais. 



To the above single-flowered forms 

 must be added the following double- 

 flowered ones : — 



Cajmx (or eystettensis), soft lemon- 

 yellow, with numerous starry petals ; 

 grandijilenus, deep yellow ; /jZemssi- 

 mus, the old double ; scoticus plemis, 

 the double-flowered " Garland Lily " ; 

 and plenus, the Double Lent Lily, or 

 Gerarde's White and Double Yellow 

 Daffodil. 



N. Tazetta. — This is the "Poly- 

 anthus" or "Bunch" Narcissus, and 

 is the species referred to by the 

 ancient Greek and Koman poets, not 

 iV. poeticus, as many imagine. It is 

 a widely distributed species, and 

 although largely existing in Italy and 

 Southern France, it is also found in the 

 Canary Islands and Portugal, and from 

 Syria to Cashmere, China, and Japan. 

 Its geographical distribution would 

 therefore account largely for its great 

 variation. The typical JV. Tazetta 

 has bulbs Ij to 2 ins. in diameter, 

 four to six narrow and somewhat 

 grey-green leaves 12 to 18 ins. long, 

 ^ to J in. broad, and the somewhat 

 flattened scape bears an umbel of four 

 to eight flowers 1 to Ij ins. across. 

 The obovate petals are pure white, 

 and the shallow cup-shaped corona 

 is lemon-yellow, and from | to I in. 

 across. 



The Polyanthus Narcissus is per- 

 haps better grown in pots under 

 glass, but it may be grown quite 



well in the open in the mildest parts 

 of the Kingdom ; and also in less 

 favoured spots if protected with a 

 little bracken or litter in severe 

 winters. Enormous numbers of some 

 varieties such as the " Scilly White " 

 (ochroleuciis), "Grand Soleil d'or" 



375 



Fio. 276.— Narcissus Tazetta Grand 

 Monarque. (i.) 



{aureus\ "Grand Monarque," and 

 "Paper White," are grown in 

 the Scilly Islands, off Cornwall, as 

 marketable crops, and tons of flowers 

 are sent to the London and provincial 

 markets every spring. 



There are three distinct groups of 

 N. Tazetta, viz. : — 



1. Flowers white, with a yellow 

 or orange corona, represented by 

 Bazelman Major, Couronne Blanche, 

 Gloriosa, Grand Monarqtie, Grand 

 Prima, Her Majesty, Laura, Maestro, 

 Mont Cents, Queen of the Nether- 

 lands, Scilly White, Staaten General, 

 and ^Yhite Perfection. 



2. Flowers all white, represented 



