AMARYLLIS FAMILY 



The variant forms fluctuate about the type; the corona en- 

 larges or contracts, the gold deepens or pales, in a few varieties , 

 the flower becomes bicolored, in others it fades into pure white. 

 Thus varying in detail, but true in essentials, the daffodils pass, 

 a procession of loveliness, through the changing days of May. 



Our best double form of the daffodil is named in- thie-' cata- 

 logues Van Sion. Curiously enough, it seems to be the strongest 

 member of the species. The variety has been, able to maintain.- ' 

 itself in this country' for years and is-' the 

 common daffodil of old-time gardens.- ' In " 

 the oldest form the corona disappears as a''' 

 separate body and supernumerary segments "'■ 

 are present. The form now sought by gar- ' 

 deners is that in which the segments re- 

 main intact, and the trumpet fills with 

 petaloids. This double daffodil has long 

 been cultivatedin England, where it is known •' 

 as Narcissus telambnius planus; it is, how- 

 ever, simply a variety of Narcissus pseudo- 

 narcissus. 



Another attractive species of the long- 

 crowned group offered by the trade is 

 Narcissus hulbucbdium, the Hoop-Petticoat 

 Daffodil. This is rather a delicate plant in appearance, with 

 a small bulb and slender leaves, of which there are three or four 

 with each scape. The flower is solitary, bright-yellow in all its 

 parts— the very prominent thin corona so extending the tube as 

 to make the perianth funnel-shaped. The stamens are rather 

 long and inserted at the base of the tube. The type is native 

 to southern France and northern Africa; it blooms in April and * 

 May and runs into many garden forms. 



Typical of the medium-crowned group, resembling the Trum-. 

 pet in general effect, yet different in detail, is: the Superb Daffodil,'. \ 

 Narcissus in.compardhilis. A native of France and Spain, andr.- 

 recognized as a distinct species, many botanists believe it to be a 

 hybrid, the result of a union between the Trumpet and the Pheas- 



66 



HooiJ-Petticoat Daffodil. 

 Narcissus hulbucbdium 



