XIV 



ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 



WE cannot think about Daffodils without a lightening 

 of the heart. There is something irresistibly cheery 

 about them. They are infectiously gay and enlivening. 



The Daffodils have been popular flowers for many 

 hundreds of years. They are old, old favourites. Their 

 early flowering has much to do with this, and it is 

 interesting to know that some authorities trace the name 

 Daffodil to the old English word affodyle, which means 

 an early object. Another explanation is that it comes 

 from Asphodel, and the Daffodil was certainly confused 

 with that flower by Lyte and others. If the reader 

 repeats the two names one after the other he will be 

 able to appreciate the possibility of confusion arising 

 through careless writing following faulty pronunciation. 

 Asphodel is the popular form of the Greek Aspkodelus. 

 The plant is entirely different from the Daffodil, and 

 no confusion ought to have arisen between them. The 

 Asphodel belongs to the natural order LiliacecZy and the 

 Daffodil to the Amaryllidacece. Asphodelus comes from 

 a y not, and sphallo, to supplant, the intention being to 

 convey that the flowers are so beautiful that they cannot 

 be surpassed. 



Whether Daffodil originated from Asphodel or 

 affodyle, it appears to have come into possession of 

 an initial letter which did not belong to it. It would 



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