( 242 ) 
it Narciffus omnium maximum feu nonpar eile. 
It is well known to the London gardeners 
by the name of the Egg Narciffus, or 
Orange Phoenix. 
Betides this which I have gathered, there 
is a fpecies, called poetlcu^ found in fome 
parts of this kingdom. It is rather a rare 
plant. Its fpecific appellation you will eafily 
conceive originates in a fuppofition that this 
is the flower into which the felf-enamored 
fon of CephhTus. was metamorphofed. 
. . - 
i croceum pro corpore florera 
Irweniunt, folris medium cingentibus albis. 
It feems, indeed, pretty evident, from the 
defcriptions of Theophraftus, Diofcorides 
and Pliny, that our Daffodil is- a fpecies of 
the Narciffus of the ancients. There is but 
one objection to this fuppofition: they do 
not, by any means, agree in their time of 
flowering. The firft and laft of thefe an- 
cient naturalifts tell us that their Narciffus 
blooms about the Autumnal equinox, and 
Virgil's 
necfera comantem 
Narciffus^ 
I am fure you remember. "-^ 
What 
