Narcissus L.

Overview

Narcissus belongs to the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae, and is one of the most important spring bulbs. Kew gives its native range as Macaronesia (the Atlantic islands such as the Canaries) to Afghanistan, with an outlying branch from south-east China to Japan; the RHS says garden daffodils mainly originate in southern Europe and North Africa, and N. pseudonarcissus is native in Britain.

The Chinese sacred lily, grown for the Lunar New Year, is treated by WCVP as Narcissus tazetta subsp. chinensis, native to south-east China and Japan; N. tazetta itself ranges from the Mediterranean to Central Asia.

Classification and horticultural divisions

Linnaeus published the genus in Species Plantarum in 1753. A large share of the species WCVP accepts are natural hybrids (names with ×), and former segregate genera such as Ajax, Jonquilla and Corbularia are now synonyms, listed below.

In horticulture, daffodils are divided into 13 groups, or divisions, based mainly on flower form. The RHS notes that Division 7 (Jonquilla and Apodanthus) is highly scented and Division 9 (Poeticus) is usually the last to flower. Planting a range of species and divisions gives flowers to pick from February to early May.

Distribution

WCVP records the genus as native to 41 TDWG botanical regions and introduced in 61 more.

Introduced

Accepted species

WCVP accepts 179 species; names with × are natural hybrids. The count changes with revisions; checked 2026-10-24.

Historic plates

Plates in date order; the printed names are kept as they appear, current names are on the species pages and the topic page.

• 

  Narcissus jonquilla

  Curtis's Botanical Magazine · 15 · 1787
  
• 

  Narcissus minor

  Curtis's Botanical Magazine · 6 · 1787
  
• 

  Narcissus Tazetta

  Curtis's Botanical Magazine · 925 · 1806
  Sydenham Edwards
• 

  N. pseudo-narcissus
  Narcissus jonquilla

  Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse · Pl. 259 · 1897
  
• 

  Narcissus tazetta

  Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse · Pl. 260 · 1897
  

Cut-flower handling and safety

Floralife advises buying at the “pencil” stage (bud pointing straight up) or the “gooseneck” stage (bud just bending), storing at 1–3 °C and 75–85% relative humidity; vase life is 5–7 days, ethylene sensitivity is low and post-harvest disease is rare. Buds stored too long may fail to open.

Cut daffodils release a substance that harms other flowers, so Floralife advises not mixing them with other flowers and keeping them in a separate bucket. Some publications recommend hydrating them alone for six hours or more before mixing; Floralife notes it has not confirmed this practice. The stems are soft, so take care with foam. The ASPCA lists daffodils as toxic to dogs, cats and horses: the toxic principles are lycorine and other alkaloids, the bulbs are the most poisonous part, and eating them causes vomiting, salivation and diarrhoea, with convulsions, low blood pressure, tremors and heart arrhythmias after large amounts.

Further reading

• Flower guide
• Reference library

References

1. WCVP · World Checklist of Vascular Plants (via ChecklistBank dataset 2232) · accessed 2026-10-24
2. Kew (POWO data on the ColPlanta site) · Narcissus native range
3. RHS · How to grow daffodils
4. Floralife · Daffodil care and handling
5. ASPCA Animal Poison Control · Daffodil