56 DAFFODILS AND THEIR POISON 



are Shakespeare's ' daffodils, that come before the swallows 

 dare, and take the winds of March with beauty.' Through 

 its name, this flower has been associated with Homer's 

 asphodel, 'daffodil' being a contraction from the old 

 French fleur d'asphodille. Possibly Homer had some 

 kind of narcissus in his mind, although Lucian and later 

 writers applied the name to a lilywort with an edible root, 

 which Linnaeus confirmed by calling that genus Asphodelus. 

 We also use the name to denote that lovely little lilywort 

 which enlivens our northern mosses in July with its spikes 

 of golden flowers and scarlet anthers, the bog asphodel 

 (Narthecium). The common daffodil is the only narcissus 

 which we can claim as a native of Britain, except the two- 

 flowered narcissus 'primrose-peerless,' as country folk 

 call it (N. biflorus), bearing a couple of sweet, pale 

 straw-coloured or white flowers on each stalk, which is 

 probably indigenous in the extreme south and south-west 

 of England and Ireland. 



Besides these two, there are a few distinct exotic 

 species, which nobody should neglect who has control of 

 so much as a quarter of an acre of ground. One of the 

 oldest settlers in this country is the nonpareil (N. incom- 

 parabilis), a native of Spain and the Tyrol, with its 

 double form upon which our forefathers bestowed the too 

 homely title butter-and-eggs. Another species, from the 

 Mediterranean region, which takes kindly to our lawns 

 and woodlands, is the poet's narcissus (N. poeticus). 

 Flowering latest of all the daffodils, in May, when there 

 is such competition in floral beauty, this flower scarcely 

 commands the admiration which is its due ; yet I think, 

 were I asked to name the daintiest combination of colour, 

 form, and grace to be found in flowering herbs, I should 



