There is nothing new in the "confusion" between daffodil and narcissus as common names! As I wrote to the pbs list on 22 March 2004: '...many idle and ignorant Gardiners and others, who get names by stealth, as they do many other things, doe call some of these Daffodils Narcissus, when as all know that know any Latine, that Narcissus is the Latin name, and Daffodill the English of one and the same thing... John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole, Paradisus Terrestris, 1629 Parkinson's fulminations have borne no fruit and Dave Karn's are unlikely to either. I think we have to accept that 'daffodil' and 'narcissus' are semi-overlapping vernacular names for members of the genus Narcissus, but it is still annoying to be asked by the idle and ignorant 'What's the difference...?' John Grimshaw Dr John M. Grimshaw Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens Sycamore Cottage Colesbourne Nr Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL53 9NP Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ ----- Original Message ----- From: <DaveKarn@aol.com> To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org> > > I grow daffodils. And have for nearly six decades. All through that time I > have found a confusion being perpetuated everywhere -- and most prominently by > the Dutch (who really should know better!). I rather imagine, however, it > was they who started this business of "daffodil" referring only to the early > yellow trumpet daffodil and "narcissus" to the white perianth examples with > colored coronas. The fact of the matter is that all daffodils are narcissus and > all narcissus are daffodils. Daffodil is the commonly used term to refer to all > forms of the genus Narcissus (the botanical descriptor). In other words, the > two terms refer to the same thing. >