Wild daffodils in Andalusia
Daffodils belong to the Amaryllidaceae, a family of bulbous plants containing the diverse genus of garlic (Allium), together with Acis (=Leucojum), Sternbergia, Pancratium maritimum, Amaryllis belladonna and Lapiedra martinezii.
Beautiful daffodils
Daffodils are cultivated for centuries by gardeners, which developped hundred of varieties, in reason of their attractive flowers.
Many species display strong scent, either pleasant or totaly the contrary… Fox’s pee is a common name for some daffodils in Spanish.
An Iberian specialty
Most species are distributed in South West Europe and originated in Spain, where the number of species of the genus is maximum. The Iberian diversity of the group makes it a special subject of attraction to naturalists.
More you look at daffodils… more you are fascinated by their complex relations…
A taxonomic puzzle
Taxonomy is extremelly complex and still not well understood by specialists, despite a number of recent studies. Moreover huge differences in their views of good species implies a catalog between a dozen to more than a hundred species.
A special difficulty in the genus is the high valence of hybridization between species. Hybrids can exist between close relative or quite distant species. Recent hybridization event show ‘intermediary’ flowers which can spread asexually in small populations (thanks to their bulbils). Some plants were originated a long time ago by very old hybridization events, which were fixed through generations and have generated differenciated subspecies and even species (sometimes even multiplying the number of chromosomes). Of course, genetic introgressions between populations occur ‘regularly’… This situation results in a complex puzzle.
… to the point of falling into their reflect.
Guide to the wild daffodils in Andalusia
Poets’ daffodil (N. poeticus) is widespread in Europe and mostly restricted to NE area in the Iberian Peninsula. One single population has been identified in the Cazorla mountain range, an extraordinary outlier given its global distribution.
Mainly white flowers (subgenus Hermione)
Cream paperwhite
Narcissus tazetta
Mediterranean. Used in gardens.
Drizzle paperwhite
N. papyraceus
SW Iberia.
Slender paperwhite
N. elegans
W. Mediterranean. Ronda. RR.
Check N. serotinus (herbarivirtual.uib.es)
Autumn paperwhite
N. obsoletus = N. deficiens
Mediterranean. RR.
Blossom in autumn.
Hoop-petticoat daffodils = bell shape (section Bulbocodium)
Hoop-petticoat daffodil
N. bulbocodium
Ibero-maghrebian. RR.
White hoop-petticoat
N. cantabricus
Ibero-maghrebian. Occasional.
Dwarf hoop-petticoat
N. hedraeanthus
Sierra Morena, Cazorla. Occ.
Very distinctives species
Those species are sometimes difficult to recognize as daffodils at first sight.
Canavilles’s daffodil
Narcissus cavanillesii
Ibero-maghrebian. Rare.
Green daffodil
N. viridiflorus
Coastal species (Cadix, W Morocco). RR.
Angel’s-tears daffodil
N. triandrus subsp. pallidulus
= Narcissus coronatus
Iberian. Occ.
Typical yellow flowers daffodils
Rock daffodils (section Apodanthi)
Other widespread Iberian species are N. calcicola Mendonça and N. scaberulus Henriques. See ESCOBAR GARCÍA (2018) for a recent revision.
Rock daffodil
N. rupicola
🪨(rock). Siliceous. Iberian. RR.
Short crown flowers (sections Jonquilla & Juncifolii)
The group of species most difficult to identify. More details are to come later.
Narcissus cuatrecasasii
🪨 Betic mountains. Rare.
N. jonquilla
N. fernandesii
🪨 Iberian. Rare.
N. tortifolius
SE Iberia. RR.
N. assoanus
🪨 [Ca] Andalusia. Occ.
N. gaditanus
S. Iberia. RR.
Trumpet daffodils (sections Nevadensis & Pseudonarcissus)
See ALGARRA et al. (2018) for a recent revision.
Sierra Nevada daffodil
N. nevadensis nevadensis
Often splitted. See N. n. herrerae in Almijara.
Segura daffodil
N. nevadensis longispathus
Wild daffodil
N. pseudonarcissus bujei
R.
Flora iberica. PDF.
Flora Andalucía Oriental. PDF.
Guía de los narcisos silvestres de Andalucía. Ed. La Serranía.
