Narcissus pseudonarcissus L.

Common Daffodil; Trumpet Narcissus

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Common Daffodil is an introduced perennial bulb in the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). It is native to Europe, but is widely cultivated. In Alabama, it can be found state wide. Common Daffodil can be found on roadsides, in pastures, and around old home sites. It is a scapose (lacking an above ground lefy stem) perennial from an ovoid bulb. The leaves are flat, linear, glabrous, glaucous, and entire. Flowers are solitary. The flowers are yellow in color and fragrant. The corona is as long or longer than the tepals. The fruit is a capsule. Some forms of Common Daffodil have the corona divided into segments resembling the tepals, with petaloid stamens (the stamens are broad and flat, petal-like in appearance and lacking anthers). The forms are often referred to as “Butter and Eggs”, or “Cheese and Eggs”. The genus Narcissus is native to Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. These plants are widely cultivated for their early spring bloom and sweet sent in some species. Bulb enthusiasts divide the genus into sections based on the size and shape of the flower and the number of flowers produced per flowering stalk. Six species and four hybrids have been documented as naturalized or persisting in Alabama. Plants with one or two large flowers and flat leaves are referred to as Daffodils, whereas plants with many small blossoms and cylindrical leaves are called Jonquils. Many other species and hybrids are sometimes cultivated. Plants reproduce sexually by seed, and asexually by forming new bulbs around the old one. They contain toxic chemicals as well as raphide crystals that make them unpalatable to most herbivores.--A. Diamond

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Not Native GNR (Global Rank)

<a href=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/59380112> Spaulding, D.D. and T.W. Barger. 2014. Key to the Daffodils (Narcissus, Amaryllidaceae) of Alabama and adjacent states. Phytoneuron 2014-82: 1–10.</a>