with a yellow cup in the centre, fringed on the border with a circle of bright purple. It is sweet-scented, 
a native of many parts of Europe, and flowers in May. There is a variety with double flowers. 
There is a species of Narcissus which is called the Late-flowering, and does not blow till autumn. The 
Common Jonquil is altogether yellow, as is also the Sweet-scented ; but the latter has the cup somewhat 
deeper coloured than the petals. 
The preferable kinds are the Polyanthus Narcissus, the Jonquil, and the Poetical Narcissus; but any 
of them may be blown, either in glasses or pots, without difficulty, and may be readily increased by offsets. 
Although it has been observed that most of these flowers blow in April and May, this only applies to 
such as are left in the earth to blow at their own season ; but, according to their time of planting and their 
situation, they may be continued for many months in succession. Those planted in pots should be covered 
an inch over the top of the bulb ; and the pot should not be less than seven inches in depth. According 
to the size of the bulb, one or more may be planted in each pot. They may be planted any time from 
September to February. Careful admissions of air in mild weather will be beneficial; and they must on 
no account be denied the enjoyment of daylight and sunshine, towards which they will lean with an almost 
animal yearning, which it were a sort of cruelty not to indulge. 
Water must not be given them until the green begins to appear : they should then be gently watered 
once or twice a week. In a warm inhabited room they may be blown even in the midst of winter. 
The leaves, such as are blown in glasses, should never be plucked off before they decay, or the root will 
be thereby deprived of much of its natural nourishment. When they have decayed, the bulbs should be 
taken up, laid in the shade to dry, cleaned, and put in a dry secure place till wanted to replant. The offsets 
should be taken off, and sorted according to their size. When planted, they may be put two or three 
together, until they have grown large enough for flowering. 
When the plants are somewhat advanced in height they will require a stick to support them. Such 
plants as are kept in the open air in the spring must be defended from strong winds, which would other- 
wise be apt to break the stems, particularly after rains ; when their cups, being filled with water, will be 
more heavy : 
“ All as a lily pressed with heavy rain, 
Which fills her cups with showers up to the brinks. 
The weary stalk no longer can sustain 
The head, but low beneath the burden sinks.” 
P. Fletcher. 
They will thrive best in a south-eastern exposure, when the morning sun may dry off the moisture 
which has lodged upon them during the night ; and they will better preserve their beauty there than in the 
shade, or in the scorching heat of the afternoon sun. 
Armstrong notices the destructive effect of the easterly winds upon the Narcissus : in common indeed 
with all other flowers, for those must be very hardy that can bear an exposure to them without injury : 
“ As when the chilling east invades the spring, 
The delicate narcissus pines away 
In hectic langour, and a slow disease 
Taints all the family of flowers, condemned 
To cruel heavens.” 
The poetical origin of this flower, and its own beauty, have conspired to obtain for it the notice of some 
of the greatest poets. The story told at length in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, of the transformation of Narcissus 
into a flower, is too well known to need insertion. 
The Naiades, lamenting the death of Narcissus, prepare a funeral pile, but his body is missing : 
“ Instead whereof a yellow flower was found, 
With tufts of white about the button crown’d.” 
Sandys’s Ovid. 
A meek and forlorn flower with nought of pride, 
Drooping its beauty o’er the watery clearness, 
To woo its own sad image into nearness. 
Deaf to light Zephyrus, it would not move ; 
But still would seem to droop, to pine, to love 
So, while the poet stood in this sweet spot, 
Some fainter gleamings o’er his fancy shot; 
Nor was it long ere he had told the tale 
Of young Narcissus, and sad Echo’s bale.” 
Keats. 
The scent of the Narcissus is generally considered very unwholesome, and the ancients devoted it to 
the Furies, who were said to torment their sufferers by its stupifying powers. 
What first inspired a bard of old to sing 
Narcissus pining o’er the untainted spring ? 
In some delicious ramble he had found 
A little space, with boughs all woven round ; 
And in the midst thereof a clearer pool 
Than e’er reflected in its pleasant cool 
The blue sky here and there serenely peeping 
Through tendril wreaths fantastically creeping. 
And on the bank a lonely flower he spied, 
