Interesting to read the various comments on this...
A subject I know quite well...
First for some definitions--A "paper white" has a pure stark-white cup and
perianth. It would be a selecton from the wild Narcissus papyraceus (a separate
species from the yellow or bicolored tazettas and having a different basic
chromosome number) without admixture of any other tazetta. Dutch catalogs tend
to refer to ALL the forceable tazettas as "paperwhites", but in reality, if
there is any color to the cup then it is properly known just as a "tazetta" or,
in centuries past when countless varieties were grown by the Dutch, known as
polyanthus ("many-flowered") narcissus.
(See article <A HREF="http://www.billthebulbbaron.com/article.htm">Little
Cups of Gold</A> for their history.)
The main paperwhite form sold these days is Ziva. It is extremely early and
rapid-growing. It has comparatively narrow foliage and a long, strong stem
that was originally selected for use as a cutflower rather than for indoor
forcing, so they can be prone to falling over grown indoors. Outdoors they grow
fine as long as there is no summer watering. It has large florets with tips
more rounded than the French type. Its scent also has more vanilla than the
old-fashioned French paperwhite (a form of which the Israelis now sell as
'Galilee').
The commercially grown paperwhites (remember that means purest white in cup
as well as perianth) as a group, however, all smell, well, like a paperwhite in
varying degrees. Those who object to paperwhite fragrance will be amused to
know that its scent contains larger amounts of indole compared to the other
tazettas. Indole is also given off by E. coli (yes, that's right). In my
experience, those who object to tazettas mostly do so because paperwhite is the
only one they have encountered, and to make matters worse it is the one that
starts off the season. The other tazettas they like better and generally most of
all the Chinese Sacred Lily (N. tazetta var chinensis) whch is actually from
the eastern Mediterranean originally. I have encountered this same good scent
in various wild forms from the eastern Mediterranean, including a
September-flowering form from Delos in Greece. Luckily it is dominant in crosses with
other tazettas.
Years ago I got some seed of "Narcissus tazetta" through the IBS. It is a
dwarf type that matches in fragrance another I have which was wild-collected as
seed in Israel. The scent is distinctly different from that which I have
encountered in any other tazettas and it too is dominant in crosses with other
tazettas. A wonderful scent indeed. This plant will flower as early as
September, and so too many of its offspring.
I had a paperwhite from Michael Salmon once that was collected in Morocco.
The others I had from Morocco all smelled like a normal paparwhite but this one
was similar to the scent of Golden Rain, a yellow tazetta, spicy and very
nice. But it got accidentally dug out when some adjacent bulbs were removed and
may be lost from here. I have not yet managed to get the same type again.
I do have some hybrids from paperwhite x N. broussonettii all of which smell
quite different from paperwhite, much nicer, one in particular smelling alot
like a hyacinth.
I was just making some pollinations on 2 potted selections from the Autumn
Colors group. In color, shape and stature they were quite similar, about the
color of Soleil d'Or, large and vigorous but diploid and thus highly fertile.
The scents though differed remarkably. One had a sharp, spicy scent clearly
derived from Golden Rain while the other was more typical of other yellow winter
blooming tazettas, very good but not as noteworthy.
Take a look at this link for a photo and description of the Autumn Colors
group:
<A HREF="http://billthebulbbaron.com/Narcissus/…">Autumn
Colors</A>--I dont sell these, but this is the seed-grown mix I often share
seeds of--be watching the BX as I just found some more in the barn--open
pollinated seeds from last season, eager and ready to grow. In my experience the
diversity of fragrances in this group is remarkable, due in large part to the
diversity of scent among the otherwise often similar-looking bicolored and yellow
wild forms of the coastal Meditierranean, which are a part of their ancestry.
Also in their background are old diploid cultivars like Autumn Sol, Newton,
French Sol, Gloriosus, Grand National (R.E.Harrison, N.Z.), Odoratus,
“MacKenzie tazetta” (Isles of Scilly), Golden Rain (Double French Sol), true Soleil
d’Or, etc.
In general, it seems as though each individual seed-grown tazetta is at least
a little bit different from its peers.
Best wishes,
Bill the Bulb Baron
<A HREF="http://www.billthebulbbaron.com/">Bill the Bulb Baron.com</A>
William R.P. Welch
P.O. Box 1736
(UPS: 264 West Carmel Valley Road)
Carmel Valley, CA 93924-1736, USA
Phone/fax (831) 659-3830