NARCISSUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. NARCISSUS. 



579 



bulbus, N. Broussoneti, etc., are inter- 

 esting to collectors ; but the diffi- 

 culties of their culture are out of all 

 proportion to their beauty, and those 

 who only wish for large and beautiful 

 flowers had better ignore them. Prac- 

 tically, we have only six species of 

 Narcissus worth cultivating N. Bul- 

 bocodium, N. pseudo-narcissus, N. 

 poeticus, N. Tazetta, N. jonquilla, and 

 N. triandrus. Then for naturalisa- 

 tion, or for ordinary garden culture, 

 these six may be reduced to three 

 groups N. pseudo-narcissus, or the 

 Ajax Daffodils ; N. poeticus, or the 

 Poet's Narcissus ; and the natural 

 hybrid between these two species, the 

 ubiquitous Star Narcissus N. incom- 

 parabilis. These kinds are really the 

 only free and hardy open-air Narcissi, 

 and are the best for the meadow or 

 the lawn. 



Of the newer seedlings, perhaps 

 the finest are N. " Ellen Willmott " 

 and N. Mme. de Graaff, which first 

 flowered at Leyden in 1883. N. Glory 

 of Leyden is a yellow counterpart of 

 it. The two were offered, one bulb of 

 each, for seven guineas only a year 

 or two ago. They are so vigorous, 

 and they increase so fast in good soil, 

 that buyers were amply repaid, high 

 as these prices appear. N. Weardale 

 Perfection, N. Monarch, and some 

 others are so fine and so rare that they 

 are practically not to be had, anything 

 less than ten guineas having been 

 refused for a single bulb of N. Wear- 

 dale Perfection. These are only show 

 flowers, however, and many others 

 not much less handsome may be had 

 by the hundred or the thousand at a 

 moderate price. 



Narcissi flower in continuous suc- 

 cession from February until June ; and 

 when pot - culture and warm - house 

 treatment is adopted, the double 

 Roman Narcissus and the Italian 

 paper- white Narcissus flower in Novem- 

 ber, and there are always some Nar- 

 cissi in flower from that time to June. 



HYBRID NARCISSI. The species 

 which have best lent themselves to 

 the hybridiser's art are AT", pseudo- 

 narcissus, N. poeticus, N. montanus, N. 

 triandrus, N. jonquilla, and N. Tazetta. 

 The type hybrids are N. incompara- 

 bilis, Bernardi (both found wild), 

 Nelsoni, Barrii, Burbidgei, Humel, 

 Leedsii, Milneri, tridymus, and odorus. 

 There are wild and garden hybrids 

 between N. Bulbocodium and pseudo- 

 narcissus ; N. triandrus and N. 

 pseudo-narcissus ; N. jonquilla and N. 



pseudo-narcissus ; N. juncifolius and 

 N. pseudo-narcissus ; N. Tazetta and 

 N. pseudo-narcissus ; N. Tazetta and 

 N. poeticus ; N. poeticus and N. 

 pseudo-narcissus ; and N. montanus 

 and N. poeticus ; and also N. pseudo- 

 narcissus and N. montanus ; while 

 derivative hybrids have been obtained 

 between some of these hybrids and 

 some of the parent species. It is 

 remarkable that while wild hybrids 

 and garden seedlings usually enjoy 

 richly manured soils, wild species and 

 the white varieties of the Daffodil, . N. 

 triandrus and N. Bulbocodium, usually 

 die out on deep richly manured borders, 

 but frequently live on poor stony or 

 sandy soils, on dry grassy banks, or 

 amongst the roots on the sunny sides 

 of hedges, shrubs, stone walls, and 

 trees. 



N. BIFLORUS (Primrose Peerless). 

 Similar in habit to N. poeticus, but has 

 creamy-white flowers, two on a scape, and 

 the rim of the primrose corona is scariose 

 but colourless (i.e., not purple). N. bi- 

 florus is now known to be a natural hybrid 

 between N. poeticus and N. Tazetta, hav- 

 ing been found wild with its parents near 

 Montpellier by Mr Barr ; and also raised 

 from its parents in the garden by the 

 Rev. Mr Engleheart. N. biflorus is 

 naturalised in England and Ireland, but 

 is a native of Europe. It is one of the 

 easiest of all the kinds to naturalise, and 

 spreads rapidly, but is usually supposed 

 not to bear seed. N. Dr Laumonier 

 (Wilks) is a very fine seedling of this 

 group. 



PRINCIPAL SPECIES OF NARCISSI. 



N. (CORBULARIA) BULBOCODIUM (The 



Hooped Petticoat Daffodil). This is one 

 of a kind with slender rush-like leaves. 

 In Spain it grows in wet meadows during 

 winter and spring, but is dried up through- 

 out summer and autumn. The types are 

 golden-yellow in Spain and Portugal, 

 sulphur-yellow in S. France, as at Biarritz 

 and Bayonne, one variety in the Pyrenean 

 district (N. Grcellsii) is whitish, but in 

 Algeria grows the exquisite snowy- white 

 N. monophyllus. Hybrids between N. 

 Bulbocodium, N. triandrus, and the Daffo- 

 dil have been obtained in gardens, and 

 are also found wild. The main varieties 

 are conspicuus, a large, rich, golden- 

 yellow kind with green rushy leaves ; 

 tenuifolius, a small golden form, having 

 a six-lobed rim to the corona, and very 

 long rush leaves which lie on the ground ; 

 nivalis, abundant in Portugal and near 

 Leon in Spain, a small golden kind with 

 short erect leaves ; prcscox, a large early- 

 blooming form, found by Mr Barr in 

 Spain ; citrinus, a pale French form, 



