Whether or not the true King Alfred still exists in commerce is a question I have often pondered. What is certain, however, is that King Alfred was illustrated in various publications early in the twentieth century. I often give talks about bulbs to garden clubs; for years I've been using a photograph of one of the two photographs of 'King Alfred' from Calvert's Daffodil Growing for Pleasure and Profit (1929) to give people an idea of what this once preeminent cultivar looked like. However, these photographs themselves presage the doubts we now experience in identifying plants of this cultivar with confidence: keeping in mind the very narrow limits within which daffodil cultivars of a given division vary, I would not be surprised if someone made two cultivars out of the plants illustrated in these two photos. There are also photographs of 'King Alfred' in David Griffiths various daffodil publications from, roughly, the period between the two World Wars. These photographs have an odd quality, almost as if they are negatives or anatomical illustrations of transparent flowers. This has the peculiar advantage of forcing you to view them more objectively - they're certainly not beautiful. The one thing which immediately separates 'King Alfred' from modern trumpet cultivars (and for that matter, from most of the trumpets of Calvert's time so fast was daffodil breeding going at that time) is the poor development of the perianth of 'King Alfred': the perianth segments are narrowish, not smooth, slightly irregular and comparatively small. Of course it is frequently illustrated in catalogs of the period, but the catalog illustrations often romanticize it beyond recognition. 'King Alfred' is old enough to have received an FCC in 1899 according to Calvert (I don't know how to reconcile that date with what follows). According to Calvert "It was in 1901 that raisers had the shock of their lives when the little known Mr. Kendall put King Alfred before the R.H.S. Narcissus Committee." Calvert goes on to say that Kendall had raised a stock of 'King Alfred' before showing it, and that one hundred bulbs were reputed to have changed hands that first year. I can't cite an example, but I wouldn't be surprised if confusion about the true 'King Alfred' began shortly afterward - if only because demand was so great right from the start. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where the true 'King Alfred' has doubtless only been represented by pretenders to the throne.