Daffodils
What are they?
The cheery faces of daffodils brighten up spring and are familiar to everyone as they crowd so many public spaces in great numbers. Daffodils are bulbous plants, the young shoots pushing through in late winter and the leaves dying down by early summer. Although we have a native species in the UK, a number of other species have been introduced as garden ornamentals, while the horticultural industry has taken these species and produced an almost overwhelming number of hybrids and cultivated selections.
Where are they found?
Introduced plants are abundant in human-influenced habitats - along roadsides, in churchyards, cemeteries, parks and amenity areas. The true native species is possibly native in East Anglia in a handful of open woodland sites and damp meadows.
Identification
Identification of daffodils is based almost entirely on the flowers. While the true species are not too difficult to identify, the process is complicated by the great abundance of cultivated varieties and you may find that many cannot be satisfactorily identified fully. Daffodils have a double row of three sepals and three petals which together form an outer ring of six tepals (sepals and petals are collectively called tepals when they are effecively the same in appearance). Inside of this ring sits a circular 'frill' known as the corona. Tepals and coronas will be referred to in the species descriptions. For identification purposes, details to note include: colour of the tepals and corona and their respective lengths; number of flowers on a stem; length of corona; length of perianth tube (measured from top of ovary to the point where the tepals and corona separate (see understanding daffodils)) and whether the tepals are patent (at ninety degrees to the flower centre), reflexed or tilted forward).
Bunch-flowered Daffodil Narcissus tazetta
Introduced from mainland Europe. Flowers January to April. Flowers small, 3-8 per stem. Perianth tube 12-18mm. Tepals yellow or white, 8-22mm long; corona yellow or orange, 3-6mm long. Highly variable in appearance due to horticultural selection, but typically identified by its small, bunched flowers with very short corona.
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Head-to-head Daffodil Narcissus x cyclazetta
(Narcissus tazetta x N. cyclamineus). A hybrid of garden origin. Flowers February to April. Flowers small, 1-2 per stem. Perianth tube 10-13mm. Tepals yellow, 12-20mm long; corona yellow, usually a little darker than tepals, 11-17mm long. Usually found as the cultivar 'Tete-a-Tete' which has two flowers per stem (hence the name!), but plants have a habit of reverting to a single flower over time.
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Jonquil Narcissus jonquilla
Introduced from SW Europe and sometimes persisting from original plantings in churchyards and amenity areas. Flowers April to May. Flowers small, 1-5 per stem. Perianth tube 20-30mm. Tepals white, 10-15mm long; corona yellow, 2-5mm long. The photos show a particularly broad-tepalled cultivar called 'Sun Disc', but other forms are rather similar to Bunch-flowered Daffodil and may be difficult to tell from all-yellow forms of that species. The true species has narrowly cylindrical leaves, but some cultivars have more open leaves (perhaps suggesting a hybrid origin).
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Angel's-tears Daffodil Narcissus triandrus
Introduced from SW Europe and sometimes persisting from original plantings in churchyards and amenity areas. Flowers April. Flowers small, 1-3 per stem. Perianth tube 10-20mm. Tepals white to pale yellow, 10-25mm long, at first patent but becoming strongly reflexed; corona white to pale yellow, 5-25mm long. Leaves narrow, almost cylindrical, 1.5-3mm wide.
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Paper-white Daffodil Narcissus papyraceus
Introduced from mainland Europe. Flowers January to April. Flowers small, 3-20 per stem. Perianth tube 10-20mm. Tepals white, 8-18mm long; corona white, 3-4mm long. Flowers sometimes double.
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Pheasant's-eye Daffodil Narcissus poeticus
Introduced from mainland Europe. Flowers April to May. Flowers medium-sized, one per stem. Perianth tube 20-30mm. Tepals white, 15-25mm long, patent or sometimes a little reflexed; corona very short, yellow with a red-orange tip, 1-3.5mm long.
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Boutigny's Daffodil Narcissus x boutignyanus
(Narcissus poeticus x N. moschatus). A hybrid probably of garden origin but also known from the wild in Spain. Flowers March to April. Flowers medium-sized, one per stem. Perianth tube 20-25mm. Tepals white, 25-40mm long, patent; corona yellow or orange-yellow, 12-15mm long.
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Nonesuch Daffodil Narcissus x incomparabilis
(Narcissus poeticus x N. pseudonarcissus). A hybrid of garden origin but also known from the wild in Spain. Flowers March to April. Flowers medium-sized, one per stem. Perianth tube 20-25mm. Tepals light yellow, 25-30mm long, patent; corona deep yellow or orange-yellow, 12-22mm long.
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Common Daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus
Probably native. This is our native daffodil in the UK, but its status in East Anglia is impossible to assess as it has been in cultivation since at least medieval times. Flowers Febuary to April. Flowers large, one per stem. Perianth tube 15-22mm. Tepals pale yellow, 20-40mm long, usually tilted forward but sometimes eventually patent when fully mature; corona yellow, darker than tepals 20-35mm long. The true species is typically shorter-stemmed and a little smaller flowered than many of the hybrids that have been bred from it and are commonly planted into the landscape.
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Common Daffodil Hybrids Narcissus pseudonarcissus
This group covers a multitude of hybrids with Common Daffodil and closely related species, or selected strains. These tend to be the 'big and blousy', brilliant yellow plants seen in great abundance and whose stems are often too weak to support the large flowers, causing them to easily bend over. Within this group there are also a number of white forms as well as double varieties.
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Reflexed Daffodil Narcissus x monochromus
(Narcissus pseudonarcissus x N. cyclamineus). A hybrid of garden origin. Flowers February to March. Flowers medium-sized, one per stem. Perianth tube 10-15mm. Tepals yellow, 25-35mm long, clearly reflexed; corona yellow, typically a little darker than the tepals, 20-25mm long. Commonly planted as the cultivar 'February Gold'.
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Spanish Daffodil Narcissus hispanicus
Introduced from mainland Europe. Flowers March to May. Flowers large, one per stem. Perianth tube 18-20mm. Tepals yellow, 18-40mm long, more or less patent and usually twisted; corona yellow, the same colour as the tepals 40-45mm long. This species has been used a lot in the production of cultivated varieties and has parentage in many of the all yellow forms of large daffodils.
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