Narcissus obvallaris (hort.)
Jane McGary (Sun, 08 Apr 2018 11:26:34 PDT)

I'm starting to think about collecting seed for the coming exchanges and
have been looking at the early daffodils in my bulb lawn. They originate
with a few bulbs purchased from the Dutch exporter then operating as
Hoog & Dix, under the name Narcissus obvallaris. As often with
Narcissus, the nomenclature is quite confusing, so I don't know how to
identify the seed. Any comments from Narcissus specialists are welcome.

John Blanchard's book "Narcissus: A Guide to Wild Daffodils" tentatively
accepts N. obvallaris (common name, Tenby Daffodil) as a valid species
found in both England and Wales and in Spain. Elsewhere, it is
considered a synonym of N. pseudonarcissus subsp. major, or treated as a
hybrid of some kind. I'm not sure what the Spanish botanical thought is.

My plants are quite uniform and interfertile, producing numerous
self-sown seedlings that appear identical to the parents (no other N.
pseudonarcissus form or hybrid is in flower here in early February).
This is a small, clear yellow flower borne singly on stems about 25-30
cm tall.

Should I send seed of this plant to exchanges (where the seedlings might
become distributed under a misnomer), and if so, under what name?

As for seeds of N. cantabricus and N. romieuxii, I hardly know what to
do about them and am just removing the capsules to prevent their further
swamping of my covered bulb beds. Many bulbs should appear in the BX
next summer, and what you call them is up to you.

Jane McGary

Portland, Oregon, USA

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