KEY TO THE DAFFODILS 219 



clearly belongs under A, and we must next 

 choose between B, BB, and BBB. The petals 

 spread horizontally, which places it under B. 

 If our specimen has only one flower on a 

 stem, it belongs then under C, and we must 

 choose between D and DD. If it has a 

 spread trumpet, it belongs under D, and if 

 the trumpet is straight, and flared only at the 

 rim, it clearly belongs under species No. i, 

 namely Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus, which is 

 the most important group of all as it contains 

 most of the common trumpet daffodils. 



The authorities disagree about N. Back- 

 housei. Even Peter Barr puts it in the large- 

 crowned section in his catalogue and in the 

 medium-crowned section in his book. All 

 agree that it is a hybrid between a large- 

 crowned and a medium - or small-crowned 

 type (some say incomparablis, some poeticus, 

 and some Tazetta), yet we have searched 

 the books in vain for any indication that the 

 flower of Backhousei has a crown appreciably 

 shorter in relation to the petals than the typi- 

 cal trumpet varieties. On the contrary, Peter 

 Barr distinctly states that the cup is nearly 

 as long as the petals. Hence, N. Backhousei 



