Narcissus pseudonarcissus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Narcissus pseudonarcissus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Amaryllidaceae Genus: Narcissus Species: N. pseudonarcissus
Binomial name
Narcissus pseudonarcissus L.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus (known as the Wild daffodil) is a perennial flowering plant of the family Amaryllidaceae which grows from a bulb. It has pale yellow flowers with a darker central trumpet. The long, narrow leaves are slightly greyish in colour and rise from the base of the stem.

The species is native to Western Europe from Spain and Portugal east to Germany and north to England and Wales. It is commonly grown in gardens and populations have become established in many other parts of Europe. Wild plants grow in woods, grassland and on rocky ground. In Britain native populations have decreased substantially since the 19th century due to intensification of agriculture, clearance of woodland and uprooting of the bulbs for use in gardens.

There are a number of subspecies of the wild daffodil but the exact number varies according to different authors. The large number of cultivars adds to the difficulty of classification. Among the subspecies is the Tenby daffodil (N. p. ssp. obvallaris, sometimes classed as a separate species) which probably originated in cultivation but now grows wild in south-west Wales.