Reflecting on Narcissus

The ancient mythology of Narcissus falling in love with his own reflection spawned the word 'narcissism' for someone who might seem to be a little two wrapped up in themselves. However, it seems that any connection with the flower, Narcissus, has never been proven and the plants may have got their name via a different root. Whatever the story, the Narcissi are plants that we now come to know as daffodils - a word that itself has a mysterious root, seemingly emerging over time from the ancient word 'Asphodelus', itself a type of Mediterranean flower.

Daffodils are the very essence of spring, reaching their glorious peak during late March and early April and seen as one of the great hopes of emergence from winter - glorious stands of yellow fill the lanes and copses as the natural world revitalises itself after the winter rest. So it seems timely that I should have just added the daffodils on the Flora of East Anglia website as we enter the beginning of March. Of course, horticultural breeding and the introduction of more than just our one native species, has meant that the first daffodils can readily be seen by the end of December, with some seeing us into early May. But those great golden sheets will always be an early April thing to me and I can't wait for them to really get going. As I look out of my window, the early varieties 'Tete-a-tete' and 'February Gold' are already doing their thing, so it's time to brush up on identification before the riot begins!

Common Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) is the only native species in the UK and is very localised in East Anglia (and perhaps not native here), but it can often be found in the better-managed village churchyards, where it naturalises more freely than many of the modern cultivars. 

Common Daffodil in all its spring glory.

Mankind seems always to need to tamper with natural beauty. Anyone who knows me will know that I generally wince at so-called double flowers that seem to completely miss the point of the beauty in simplicity - especially in cheerful spring plants such as daffodils and primroses. East Anglia has a great quantity of a very old, double variety called 'Telamonius Plenus' and also known under the name of 'Van Sion', which dates back to at least the 15th Century and is well established in the region, even on some nature reserves. 

Smaller-flowered daffodils often have a number of flowers on each stem. Varieties of Bunch-flowered Daffodil (Narcissus tazetta) come in a range of colours and are often encountered in parks and cemeteries.

And daffodils don't just come in yellow! Pheasant's-eye Daffodil (Narcissus poeticus) readily spreads to form dense colonies and puts on a staggering show in the mountains of southern Europe where it is native. Strangely, it is also known as Poet's Daffodil, which is strange as it hardly fits Wordsworth's line: .... When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils.

You can go straight to the daffodils page on Flora of East Anglia by clicking this link!