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, li 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. 273. Narcissus poeticus. 



There are several varieties, amongst 

 the best known being: Albatross, 

 white ; citron - yellow cup edged 

 orange-red. Almira (or King Edward 

 VII.), snow-white, with canary- 

 yellow cup rimmed with red. Bi- 

 florus, creamy -white ; pale yellow cup. 

 Grandiflora prcecox, white; cup 

 edged crimson. Ornatus, broad pure 

 white petals ; cup edged scarlet ; 

 sweet-scented. A fine early variety 

 grown in thousands by market 

 gardeners. Poetarum, an improved 

 early form like the type. Recurvus, 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 plena odorata, or the " Gardenia- 

 flowered Narcissus," as the rosettes of 

 pure white overlapping petals suggest 

 this flower. This variety is the last 

 of all the poeticus 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 JV. 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 H 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 cambricus, 

 sulphur-white, with a yellow trumpet ; 

 lobularis, a uniform lemon-yellow, 

 with a six-lobed trumpet; pallidm 

 2?rcecox, an early Pyrenean form, with 

 flowers varying from pale lemon- 

 yellow to white ; rugilobus, primrose- 

 yellow, with large yellow trumpet; 

 scoticus, known as the "Garland 

 Lily," similar to the type, but earlier ; 



373 



