From “Narcissi” in The Lore and Legends of Flowers by Robert L. Crowell, illustrated by Anne Ophelia Dowden:
“There are many strains of native narcissus, and their hybrid descendants have greatly swelled the number. To add to the confusion, there is confusion in the terms! The daffodil, the jonquil, and the narcissus are all kinds of narcissus and are within the meaning of the Latin term narcissi, but not everyone knows where one leaves off and the others begin. To add to the confusion, narcissus is a common name for one of the kinds of narcissus! For the sake of convenience, here are three very broad categories:
“(1) The daffodil or trumpet type — this includes Narcissus pseudo-narcissus and is recognized by its big central trumpet, which is like the mouthpiece of an old-fashioned telephone. It is the parent of almost all of our big-trumpet daffodils.
“(2) The jonquil, which is yellow but sports different hues of yellow from those of the daffodil. The jonquil has rushlike leaves, and the flowers are clustered on each stem.
“(3) The narcissus, which has white petals and sepals and a cup often edged with orange or red.
“Within these large categories the species and varieties are legion. The ‘common’ daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus), which delighted Wordsworth and which enlivens the window boxes of London each April, is found among trees and in thickets in many parts of northern Europe. The ‘hoop petticoat’ narcissus, with its crown flared out like the skirt of a ballet dancer, makes its home in southern France and Morocco. Narcissus tazetta, the most widely distributed of all, is especially partial to Eurasia and the Canary Islands. Narcissus jonquilla is native to southern Europe and Algeria. Indeed, the Iberian peninsula is a stronghold of many species that survive in the wild.”
From “A Daffodil Code” in Daffodil: Biography of a Flower by Helen O’Neill:
“To humans Narcissus tazetta has simply always been there. It has journeyed far from its original home in south-western Europe and gathered many names on the way, from Polyanthus Narcissus, Nosegay Daffodils, Paperwhites, Suisen (by the Japanese), Joss Flower to Chinese Sacred Lily in China, where it is considered auspicious.”
From “Early Spring (1860)” in Poems of John Clare’s Madness, edited by Geoffrey Grigson:
The spring is come, and spring flowers coming too,
The crocus, patty kay, the rich heartsease;
The polyanthus peeps with blebs of dew,
And daisy flowers; the buds swell on the trees;
While o’er the odd flowers swim grandfather bees.
In the old homestead rests the cottage cow;
The dogs sit on their haunches near the pale,
The least one to the stranger growls ‘bow-wow’,
Then hurries to the door and cocks his tail,
To gnaw the unfinished bone; the placid cow
Looks o’er the gate; the thresher’s lumping flail
Is all the noise the spring encounters now
Hello!
This is the third of four posts exploring four daffodil varieties that I photographed at Oakland Cemetery earlier this year. The first post about Narcissus pseudonarcissus is Daffodils: A Gathering (1 of 4); and the second post about Narcissus × incomparabilis is Daffodils: A Gathering (2 of 4).
This post has photos of Narcissus tazetta, a daffodil species with a long history going back to antiquity whose descendants often appear in Victorian gardens like Oakland, with a naturalization history that extends throughout many of the southeastern states in the United States. And as we discussed in the previous post, wild or genetically engineered pairings of Narcissus tazetta with Narcissus pseudonarcissus produce the Incomparable Daffodil, Narcissus × incomparabilis.
Across the two excerpts and the poem at the top of this post, you’ll see quite a few of Narcissus tazetta’s common names. There are others as well, and here’s a list — which may or may not be exhaustive — of the common names (alphabetical of course) that I came across while learning more about the tazettas:
Bunch-flowered Daffodil
Bunch-flowered Narcissus
Chinese Sacred Lily
Cream Narcissus
French Daffodil
Joss Flower
Nosegay Daffodils
Paperwhite
Polyanthus Daffodil
Polyanthus Narcissus
Paperwhites
Suisen
Some of these names reflect regional naming conventions, adapted to English, like French Daffodil and Suisen — an anglicized Japanese term that, used in an internet search, will take you to images of and articles about Narcissus tazetta. Chinese Sacred Lily and Joss flower have similar regional meanings but with an additional ceremonial connotation, as “joss” refers to Chinese religious objects. Paperwhite crosses floral boundaries, since it’s also a descriptive name for Amaryllis — especially forced Amaryllis that often occupy western homes around the Christmas holiday — and the visual similarity between the two probably led to the name’s cross-pollination, as well as the fact that their plant family Amaryllidaceae includes both Narcissus and Amaryllis. The remaining terms refer more closely to the plants’ botanical characteristics, especially Bunch-flowered, Nosegay, and Polyanthus — all of which describe the way the tazetta flowers often split off from a single stem and cluster together as if in a bouquet.
So what’s in a name? Many, many things — apparently!
Thanks for reading and taking a look!
