NARCISSUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



NARCISSUS. 



701 



in 1885, and figured in Bot. Mag.^ 7012 ; 

 it is a natural hybrid, between N. pseudo- 

 narcissus and N. triandrus, and is vari- 

 able, Mr. Tait having in March 1892, 

 sent me a bicolor form (Garrett x N. 

 triandrus albus). The best forms are N. 

 Johnstoni (type), Queen of Spain, Mrs. 

 Geo. Cammell, Pelayo, and Mr. Tail's 

 new bicolor form to which I have above 

 alluded. The Rev. G. H. Engleheart 

 has repeated crosses between the parent 

 species, and has produced a pale sulphur or 

 white Johnstoni (Snowdrop) and others. 



N. Tazetta {Polyattthiis or Bunch Nar- 

 cissus). — This is the classical Narcissus 

 of Homer and other poets, Greek and 

 Roman — the flower of a hundred heads 

 that delights all men, and lends a glory 

 to the sea and the sky. Tazetta is focused 

 in the Mediterranean Basin, but extends 

 from the Canary Islands to the north 

 of India and to Japan. It has long been 

 naturalised in the Scilly Isles and in 

 Cornwall ; but its early habit of growth, 

 acquired in more sunny climes, often 

 with us causes the flowers to be injured 

 by frosts and storms. These Narcissi are 

 hardy on warm dry soils, and as pot-plants 

 many of them are handsome, while in deep, 

 warm, sandy borders, which are sheltered 

 by sunny walls or by plant-houses, they 

 frequently do well, but as a rule bulbs must 

 be imported from France, Italy, or Hol- 

 land every year. The earliest are the double 

 Roman and the paper- white (N. papy- 

 raceus). One variety from China may be 

 grown in a sunny window if placed in water, 

 and the bulbs submerged and held in posi- 

 tion by gravel or stones. The growth of this 

 variety is rapid, and good bulbs produce 

 five to eight spikes. Its shop name is 

 " Sacred Narcissus " or Chinese "Joss Lily." 

 The best varieties are Grand Monarque, 

 States-General, Newton, Scilly White 

 (White Pearl), Soleil d'Or, Bathurst, 

 Baselman major (Trewianus), Gloriosus, 

 Sulphurine, Czar de Muscovie, Grand 

 Sultana, Grand Primo Citroniere, Luna, 

 Her Majesty, Queen of the Netherlands, 

 Lord Canning, and Golden Era. 



N. Baselman minor is now proved by 

 Mr. Engleheart and others to be a hybrid 

 between N. Tazetta and N. poeticus, and 

 .a similar hybrid has been found wild near 

 Montpellier. 



N. triandrus {Gatiymede's Cup). — A 

 distinct and elegant species which is 

 rarely happy out-of-doors except on warm, 

 moist, and sheltered borders, or in nooks 

 •of the rock-garden, but which as a pot- 

 bulb has no superior for delicate beauty, 

 its flowers rivalling in texture those of the 

 ■Cape Freezias. The late Mr. Rawson, of 



Fallbarrow, Windermere, grew it in pots, 

 and his specimens bore fifty to a hundred 

 flowers. His plan was to rest it thoroughly 

 after the leaves faded, and then to top- 

 dress the bulbs, and rarely or never to 

 re-pot them. As a rule N. triandrus is 

 short-lived, but it naturally reproduces 

 itself from seeds, which bloom the second 

 or third year after sowing. The principal 

 varieties are N. albus (Angel's Tears), N. 

 calathinus (a robust form from the Isle de 

 Glennans), and L'lle St. Nicholas. On 

 the coast of Brittany N. calathinus grows 

 among rocks and short sandy sward close 

 to the sea, and within reach of its spray 

 during rough weather. N. pulchellus has 

 a primrose perianth and a white cup, and 

 is very pretty. In the late Mr. R. Parker's 

 nursery at Lower Tooting, in 1874, it was 

 very strong and healthy in an open-air bed 

 resting on the gravel, and some of its 

 scapes bore seven or nine flowers. No 

 other Narcissus has a cup paler than the 

 perianth segments. Pulchellus has recently 

 been found wild in Portugal and Spain. 



New Hybrid and Cross-bred Nar- 

 cissi. — Every year at the Drill Hall and 

 elsewhere we see new and improved seed- 

 lings by the score, and any one may raise 

 seedlings for themselves if they will take 

 the trouble to cross-fertilise the flowers 

 either as grown in pots in cool greenhouse 

 or cold frame, or in open-air borders. In 

 some gardens, as at Chirnside and Kilma- 

 curragh, series of natural cross-bred kinds 

 have appeared spontaneously, and this is 

 doubtless how White Minor, St. Austin, 

 Countess of Desmond, and many other 

 Irish forms appeared. 



Diseases and Insects. — As Narcissi 

 may be grown on dry warm soils, or in 

 grassy lawns and meadows, the insects 

 and fungoid diseases that would aff"ect 

 them on deep-dug and highly manured 

 borders are few and far between. Neither 

 cattle nor sheep molest them, and game 

 and poultry, and even the most voracious 

 of rabbits and the most impudent of town- 

 sparrows leave the flowers alone. That 

 their leaves and roots are poisonous, or 

 acridly narcotic, may account for this. 

 In some gardens and nurseries the larva 

 of the Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris) 

 infests old bulbs, and whenever bulbs are 

 imported from abroad or are dug for 

 replanting, this larva should be searched 

 for and exterminated. The bulbs affected 

 may generally be known by their necks 

 feeling soft when pinched. All such bulbs 

 should be cut open and the larvae 

 extracted and killed. Such means are the 

 only cure, as no insecticides will kill the 

 pest without destroying the bulbs. The 



