THE DAFFODIL. 123 



overtopping the leaves, and bearing a single flower. The 

 blossoms, as will be seen by our illustration, are of a 

 peculiarly graceful shape, and of a bright yellow colour, 

 the central being somewhat deeper in tint than the rays of 

 the perianth. Unlike the hyacinth, the fragrance of which 

 is borne far and wide on the breeze, the flowers of the 

 daffodil are scentless. The plant, as we have seen, is more 

 especially a dweller in the woods, but it may at times be 

 found in moist meadows, though even then ordinarily 

 beneath the welcome shade of some isolated or hedgerow 

 tree. The first week of March is about the average date 

 of the appearance of the flowers, and by the middle of 

 April their beauty is a thing of the past. 



The daffodil is the Narcissus pseudo-narcissus of the 

 botanist. The genus takes its name from the narcissus 

 flower, and the meaning of the name of our present plant 

 may be roughly given as the narcissus-like flower. The 

 word narcissus itself is derived from the Greek word for 

 stupor, and refers to the very powerful scent of the flowers ; 

 though, according to other authorities, the name is rather 

 given from the assumption that this is the plant into 

 which, according to the classic myth, related by Ovid, the 

 youth Narcissus was changed. The daffodil, vulgarly 

 called also the daffy-down-dilly, or the daffy, derives its 

 name from a certain resemblance that it bears to the 

 asphodel the one word is a corruption from the other. It 

 is in France theflenr d'asphodele. 



The true narcissus, N.poeticus, is placed by some writers 

 in the flora of Great Britain, but its claims, unfortunately, 

 are slight. Its blossoms are pure white, with the exception 

 of a ring of bright red as a bordering to the nectary. 

 The odour, though too strong to be agreeable to some 



