BULBOUS PLANTS. 



287 



The Suinei, Viiicenti, and Saokhousei races have 

 ako affinity with IncmnparabUis, and all are pretty 

 varieties. The Nelaoni group is related to N. Mac- 

 lean, a variety with flowers like hieolor in minia- 

 ture. 



Among other Chalice-orowned Dafeodils not in- 

 cluded in the foregoing groups, hut which are most 

 desirable for cultivation, are the well-kaown odorus, 

 with its varieties the double Campernelli, rugulotm, 

 lietus, and minor. These are all of a bright yellow, 

 and make showy border flowers. Then there is the 

 pretty little juncifolius and the Jonquil ; likewise 

 the Cyclamen-flower, iriandrus, and its varieties, 

 which, however, are all too delicate for general open- 

 air culture. They should be grown either in pots 

 or planted out in frames. There is also a group of 

 twin or triple-flowered varieties, called Didymus and 

 Tridymus groups. 



Poet's Daffodils. — These are comprised in the 

 class called JParvi-coronaia, as all have small crowns 

 or cups, in some cases almost suppressed. There 

 are three large groups in the class: — poeticus, Jiur- 

 Udgei, and Tazetta, or Polyanthus, and others of 

 less importance. 



The poeticus must be known to every one, the 

 common Pheasant's Eye Narciss being the type. 

 There are a good many varieties ; all have pure 

 white flowers, with coloured cups, and some are 

 early, the rest late-flowering. The early sorts, 

 which bloom in March and April, are angustifolim, 

 ornatus, grandifiorus (the largest-flowered), poetarum, 

 and tripodalis. The later sorts, flowering in May, 

 are chiefly the typical ^oertcas, recurvus, and stellar is, 

 all first-rate kinds. Last of all to flower is the double 

 poeticus, a most desirable bulb, so pure in colour, 

 and so fragrant. 



The Burbidgei Group is very pretty, being the re- 

 sult of intercrossing poeticus with some other species. 

 They difler chiefly from' ordinary forms of poeticus 

 in the sepals being yellow,, and the cup highly 

 coloured, but the form of the flower is much the 

 same. Though quite a new race, there are upwards of 

 fifty named sorts. A dozenof the best includes : — 



it is the principal class adapted for pot-culture and 

 for forcing into flower early. 



There are numberless varieties, aU characterised 

 as having small flowers, gathered in bunches, and 

 strongly perfumed. There are many wild varieties 

 of the species, and nearly all these may he found 

 among the Dutch varieties bearing popular names. 

 The sorts may be divided into two sections, one in 

 which the flowers have white sepals and orange cups, 

 the other in which the sepals are yellow and the 

 cups orange. The best of the white kinds are : — 



Bazelman major. 

 Gloriosus. 

 Giand Monarque. 

 Grrand primo. 

 Grootvoorst. 

 Her Majesty. 



Louis le Grand. 



Paper White— or Papyra- 

 ceus — which has small 

 flowers wholly white. 



Sir Walter Scott. ■ 



Staten General. 



The Tazetta Group — or Polyanthus Daffodils, as 

 .they are commonly called — is important, inasmuch as 



The best of the yellow-flowered sorts are Am-eus, 

 Bathurst, Jaune Supreme, Lord Canning, Chrysan- 

 thus. Grand Soleil d'Or, Intermedins, and Sir Isaac 

 Newton. 



Double Daffodils are numerous, every section 

 being represented by some double sorts. In the 

 Trumpet Daffodils there are large and small double 

 yeUows, those named Telamonius plenus, plenissimus, 

 grandiplenus, capax plenus (Queen Anne's DafEodU) 

 being the best. The double white sorts are ex- 

 tremely handsome, particularly the double cernuus. 

 Among the double incomparabilis varieties, the best 

 are those called Codlings and Cream, or Sulphur 

 Phoenix, Butter and Eggs, and Orange Phoenix. 

 These three sorts represent all the beauty of the 

 doubles. Following this are the double jV. odorus, a 

 pi'etty plant, and the double poeticus. 



Culture. — The majority of the Daffodils can be 

 grown successfully in the open in almost any kind 

 of soil and situation, though of course, as with other 

 plants, there are conditions under which they thrive 

 best. The most suitable soil for a general collec- 

 tion is a moist, yet sandy, loam of good depth, mode- 

 rately enriched with manure. A moist subsoil is 

 especially favourable for most of them, and the best 

 situation is one that, while it is exposed to full sun- 

 shine, is sheltered from the bleak, cold winds of 

 early spring, when the plants are in bloom. The 

 strong-growing kinds, such as those of the Trum- 

 pet, incomparabilis, and poeticus groups, all accom- 

 modate themselves to almost any position. They 

 thrive on open hill-sides as well as in woodlands, 

 and for- planting on the margins of shrubberies, in 

 woodland walks, margins of lakes or streams, there 

 is not a more valuable class of bulbs. Those who 

 make a speciality of the Daffodils grow them in 

 beds expressly prepared for them, but thay do not 

 reqiiire even this attention to bring them to perfec- 

 tioii, as the mixed border will produce as fine blooms 

 as specially prepared beds. The more delicate kinds, 



