On 4 Nov 2009, at 11:17, Jim McKenney wrote: > Jim Waddick mentioned " the "hardy Tazzetta' Narcissus 'Minnow' " > > I'm pretty sure 'Minnow' is of hybrid origin, and I assume that is why Jim > wrote (as I might) “hardy Tazetta Narcissus ‘Minnow’ (rather than Narcissus > tazetta ‘Minnow’). > > But what ever possessed the daffodil people to use names already in use (in > use in formal botany as names of Narcissus species) for their horticultural > divisions? I find that very confusing. > > ... Narcissus 'Minnow' is not Narcissus tazetta 'Minnow' but it is "the > Tazetta daffodil 'Minnow'. > > I wouldn't know how to express the daffodil name as a formal botanical > (albeit nothotaxonomic) taxon correctly. I think you'll find that the botanists aren't too interested in horticultural hybrid cultivars of Narcissus. The horticultural world uses a formal classification of Narcissus cultivars, and 'Minnow' falls into "DIVISION 8 - TAZETTA DAFFODILS OF GARDEN ORIGIN". Here's a link to a webpage showing the daffodil classification: http://ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/… sification.html The mistake is stupid gardeners who don't understand the distinction between N. tazetta sensu strictu and "tazetta daffodils" which are implicitly one and all hybridds. Being in division 8 does not make a daffodil a form of N. tazetta. The daffodil classification is very much pragmatic in how the various divisions are defined. Some are identified solely by some general feature of the flowers such as "large cup" or "double", but others because the flowers resemble one of the ancestors: Nn. triandrus, cyclamineus, jonquilla, tazetta, and poeticus. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island http://maps.google.ca/maps/…