DAFFODIL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION. 



303 



they have grown and thriven in old neglected Irish gardens 

 better than anywhere else in the world. That they have seeded 

 there spontaneously is also past disputation, and hence, no 

 doubt, the variety noticeable among them to-day. I believe they 

 are all cultivated seedling descendants of the N. moschatus of 

 the Pyrenees, which, as we all know, is extremely variable in 

 size and shape, and in tint or hue, and it also soon becomes 

 larger under cultivation in our gardens.* 



Haworth, in 1831, only knew of four varieties of white Daffodils ; 

 and our friend Mr. Barr could only find three of these in cultiva- 

 tion down to the year 1879 or 1880 ; but now the list is swollen 

 to two or three dozen or more. 



Bicoloured Daffodils. 



The Daffodils of the N. bicolor group are less numerous, but 

 quite as perplexing as those of the yellow or golden group, and we 

 are by no means quite certain as to their origin. But we do 

 know that two-coloured forms of Daffodil exist in a wild state, 

 and no doubt our garden forms of N. bicolor have been evolved 

 from these native varieties. In the Pyrenees there are forms of 

 N. muticus, and of N. variiformis (or the so-called N. nobilis, of 

 Maw, not of Bedoute), which have white perianth segments and 

 golden trumpets, and the N. bicolor of gardens is not only 

 possibly, but also most probably, a seedling from this source. 

 Then there is, as we know, a form of N. bicolor found wild in 

 Portugal/whence Mr. Tait introduced it a few years ago. It was 

 called N. bicolor lusitanicus, and more recently was christened 

 " Camoens " by the Narcissus Committee. It has narrower 

 leaves, and is otherwise distinct from the old N. bicolor of 

 Haworth, and of gardens to-day. No doubt the tendency to 

 vary towards a bicolour, or to a more or less white state, is 

 inherent in northern or in mountain forms of the Daffodil ; even 

 in England variations more or less bicolorous are found among 

 the common yellows, and the so-called Bicester white Daffodils 

 show a tendency to advance still further towards the white 



* Some specimens of collected N. moschatus, exhibited at the Conference 

 by Messrs. Veitch & Son, of Exeter, were very variable in this respect ; and 

 some of the blooms died off pink, or of a rosy-salmon shade, in a way analo- 

 gous to the behaviour of " Mrs. Geo. Bundle," " Elaine," and other white 

 and sulphur-coloured Chrysanthemums. 



