ORIGIN OF WHITE DAFFODILS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1737, 14 June 1905, Page 66

ORIGIN OF WHITE DAFFODILS

The native habitats of the Daffodils of Haworth’s day has always been an attractive subject to the writer, and none more so than the numerous white varieties. N. moschatus, of Mount Perdu, some have thought to be the parent form. I am inclined to vote for N. variiformis, of Parkinson. The two wild plants grow at no great distance from each other, and there is just a possibility that some ancient liybridiser may have worked with these two geographical varieties. Should they have originated from one of the ti'm I know of no wild daffodil from amongst which you may select flowers of N variifermis that iso nearly fit in with fucli ancient forms as N Tortnoaus, alb cans, cernuus, Ida. etc. The trumpets ol N. variiformis present counterparts to chose I have named. The tinge of yeilow on the frill of the trumpet of Ida I have not yetmatched, but may do so, as | have thousands yet to flower of collected bn i. of NT. variiformis. The shape oi th perianth can be matched of all the wk te Daffodils of ancient form I have yet. • een, but a few points more sulphury and moie flimsy in N. variiformis vhan in tho.>e much-prized varieties of white daffodil*. Many years ago when I rsintroduced N. variiformis I made a careful seLcti n to grow on as distinct, but, like ncaily all wild daffodils, N. varrfornus does not like garden culture, and they all died. At this time Mr W. Buckhou.se 9 and Mr Edward Needs’s fine seedlings came into my hands, and the lesser had to give place to the greater, and only now have I had the opportunity to daily watch the opening flower® of this beau tit ui mountain daffodil, and I commend it as superb for naturalisation. The promises to be a good flowering daffodiL season and there is no doubt many readers of the "Garden” have Narcissus variiformis in their Daffodil collection.- I hope some of them will look into the question I have raised, and give your readers the benefit of their opinion, and throw such light as they may possess on this very interesting subject.—Peter Barr, V.M.H., in the "Garden.”