282 AMARYLLIDE^. 



the same length. The flowers are about the usual size of the 

 common Daffodil, and similar in structure, but the crown is 

 bright yellow, while the divisions of the corolla are pale creamy 

 white. JV. pscudo-fiarcissus var. major is known under the 

 following names in nurseries : N. Ajax var. major, Ajax lobii- 

 laris, A. leufetis, and JV. grajidiflorus. It is chiefly remarkable 

 for its excessive vigour and size of leaf and flower. The flower, 

 including the crown, is uniform pale yellow ; the divisions of 

 the corolla are broad, long, and spreading ; the crown also is 

 very long, spreading, and bell-shaped. Double forms of this, as 

 well as the common form of the species, are common. N. pseudo- 

 narcissus var. mi7ior is cultivated under the names N. minor p2i- 

 milus a.nd pygmcei^s, and Ajax minor a.ndpumi/us. It is the most 

 distinct of the group, and remarkable for its small size. The 

 flowers are bright yellow, the crown and divisions of the corolla 

 uniform in shade, and the whole plant does not exceed 6 inches 

 high. JV. pseudo-fiarcissus is a native of Britain and many 

 districts of southern Europe, and is one of the easiest of all the 

 Narcissi to naturalise wherever it may be desirable. The 

 flowers appear in March and April in the ordinary form, but in 

 some of the varieties they do not open till the latter month — 

 this is notably so in the bicolor variety, which does not flower 

 till about the middle of April, and on through May. 



N. Tazetta (Polyanthus N.) — This is the species whence 

 the varieties of Folya?ithus Narcissus, commonly grown in pots 

 for greenhouse and room-decoration, are derived. Bazelman 

 major, Grand ino7iar que, and many other names commonly found 

 under the head Narcissus in bulb catalogues, are applied to more 

 or less distinct forms of the south European N. Tazetta. These 

 varieties differ from what is regarded by botanists as the type 

 only in degrees of luxuriance, and in the relative colour of the 

 crown and the divisions of the corolla. All are hardy, and all 

 are beautiful as well as fragrant ; and in forcing they have proved 

 more successful than most of the other Narcissi that have been 

 tried for that purpose. The type has flat unchanneled leaves 

 about I foot long, slightly glaucous, and usually blunt or rounded 

 at the point. The flower-stalk is about the length of the leaves. 

 The flowers are produced in clusters at the top of the stalk. 

 The divisions of the corolla are milk white or creamy white, 

 overlapping each other, and bluntly pointed ; the crown is 

 bright yellow, cup-shaped, and about y^ of an inch deep. The 

 flowers open late in March and in April. The plant is not 

 only a native of southern Europe, but of Syria and northern 

 India. 



Sternbergia. — This is a small genus of diminutive bulbs, only 



