THE INCOMPARABLE DAFFODIL. 159 



several that vary in their shades of yellow and have very 

 distinctive outlines. The flowers of these have the tube, 

 or trumpet, so much developed, and the outer segments so 

 much contracted, that " corbularia/' which means " little 

 basket," is a very appropriate collective name for them. 

 They are extremely beautiful, and are peculiarly adapted 

 for pot-culture, for the adornment of the table and the 

 conservatory with their charming flowers, which in some 

 cases are of the richest gold-yellow, in others lemon- 

 yellow and creamy white. When grown in a common 

 border they are liable to destruction by spring frosts, 

 owing to their habit of growing early in the year ; but 

 when grown in pots in sandy soil, they give no trouble, 

 flower delightfully, and multiply in a most satisfactory 

 manner. 



These five prominent groups represent only the most 

 popular and generally useful members of the great family 

 of daffodils. There are twenty or more species described 

 by the botanists, and the collectors who give special 

 attention to them know of hundreds of varieties. It is a 

 fact of immense interest that in the catalogue of bulbs 

 published by Messrs. Barr and Sugden for the year 1878, 

 there are exactly 150 varieties of daffodils described, and 

 offered at prices ranging from five shillings to a penny 

 per bulb. In the " Paradisus " of John Parkinson, 

 published in 1656, there are no fewer than ninety-four 

 plants described as of the narciss family; some of these 

 might with botanical propriety be removed into other 

 classes ; nevertheless the enumeration proves that daffodils 

 were diligently collected and seriously studied in the early 

 days of gardening, for very many of Parkinson's varieties 

 had come down to him as old garden favourites. 



