Narcissus vs. Daffodils
Blee811@aol.com (Mon, 22 Mar 2004 18:55:49 PST)
In a message dated 3/22/2004 3:31:17 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jimmckenney@starpower.net writes:
Mary Sue, I think you'll find that standard usage for most purposes would
be Narcissus Ambergate. Depending on the context, the Narcissus will be
italicized or not, the Ambergate not italicized. Quotes are not used except
for Latin form cultivar names (the quotes distinguish the Latin form
cultivar names from proper botanical epithets).
If you were writing for publication, Jim, I believe most horticulture editors
would put single quotes around the cultivar name (Narcissus 'Ambergate'). If
the context made it clear that it was a daffodil, the genus name Narcissus
would be superfluous and deleted. Or you might see N. 'Ambergate'. As editor of
The Daffodil Journal for 7 years, I always put the single quotes around
cultivar names in people's articles and photo captions, but since it was understood
that all these were daffodils, the genus name was not used at all; e.g., Best
in show was 'Triple Crown'.
Bill Lee