Identifying Narcissus species

Michael Mace michaelcmace@gmail.com
Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:33:26 PDT
Nhu wrote:

> So what you're saying is that there is no monograph for Narcissus?? I'm
almost at a loss for words

I was the perpetrator of some of the edits to the narcissus section on the
wiki, and I agree.

In my opinion, the problem isn't that there is no monograph, it's that there
have been too many of them. The genus has been studied to death for hundreds
of years by splitters and lumpers, in some cases it's no longer clear what's
wild and what is cultivated stock dating back to the Romans, and the genus
itself is extremely variable, with many intermediates between the various
characteristics. The more closely you look, the more confusing the picture
becomes.

Personal opinion: we won't be able to really make sense of the genus without
genetic analysis.

Mike
San Jose, CA




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