468 GALANTHUS. [CLASS vi. ORDER i. 



within the cup. Flowers from a spatha. Name from va^xicnro;, 

 Narcissus, which isiderived from yajx.n, stupor, from the strong 

 stupifying smell of the flowers; or it derives its name from 

 the fabled youth Narcissus, the son of the river Cephisus, 

 and the nymph Liriope, who it is related died for the love of 

 himself, and was changed into a flower, of whom Shelly says, 



" Narcissi the fairest among them all, 

 Who gaze on their eyes in the stream's recess, 

 Till they die of their own dear loveliness." 



1. N. poe'ticus, Linn. (Fig. 531.) Narcissus of the Poets. Leaves 

 linear, obtuse, flat, with an obtuse keel ; spatha mostly single flowered, 

 on a compressed scape ; crown very short, membranous, with a scarlet 

 urenated margin. 



English Botany, t 275. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 131. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p 158. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 265. 



Bulb ovate, enveloped in a loose brownish membranous covering. 

 Leaves about four, linear, obtuse at the point, flat, obtusely keeled, of 

 a dark somewhat glaucous green, finely striated, with longitudinal 

 veins, enveloped at the base in one or more pale thin membranous 

 sheaths. Scape as long or longer than the leaves, compressed, two 

 edged and striated, terminating in a pale thin membranous spatha, 

 numerously striated, and bearing one or rarely two flowers, on short 

 stout pedicles. Flowers large and fragrant, the tube long and narrow, 

 the perianth of six ovate wedge-shaped pure white spreading pieces, 

 and surrounding the mouth of the tube is a short thin pale yellow mem- 

 branous cup-shaped crown, with a crenated margin, of a fine scarlet 

 colour. Stamens as long as the tube. 



Habitat. Open heathy places in a sandy soil, in Norfolk and Kent; 

 about Cork. Mr. Drummond. A doubtful native. 



Perennial ; flowering in May. 



This most beautiful species (the true Narcissus of the Greeks, accord- 

 ing to Smith) is one of the greatest ornaments of our gardens. Amongst 

 the May flowers, its pure white colours, with its central cup fringed 

 with scarlet, and the rich fragrance which it exhales, render it a 

 favourite with most persons, 



We find it very abundant in sandy districts in many parts of Italy, 

 as well as in Portugal. The flowers vary considerably in the size of 

 the segments of the perianth ; some are ovate, others ovate wedge- 

 shaped, others narrow, almost ligulate, and all either with or without a 

 central point, and the leaves are sometimes not half so long as the 

 scape, and at others equal to it. 



2. N. biflo'rus, Curt. (Fig. 532.) Pale Narcissus. Leaves linear, 

 obtuse, flat, with an acute keel ; spatha two flowered, on a compressed 

 scape, crown very short, membranous, with a crenated margin. 



English Botany, t. 276. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 132. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 158. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 265. 



