Narcissus obsoletus (Haw.) Steudel (1841: 182)

Koopowitz, Harold, Howe, Marilynn & Christenhusz, Maarten J. M., 2017, Nomenclatural notes on some autumn flowering daffodils (Narcissus, Amaryllidaceae), Phytotaxa 297 (2), pp. 157-167 : 159-161

Narcissus obsoletus (Haw.) Steudel (1841: 182)

Basionym:— Hermione obsoleta Haworth (1819: 146) .

Homotypic synonyms:— Narcissus obsoletus (Haw.) Spach (1846: 452) , nom. illeg. Narcissus serotinus L. var. obsoletus (Haw.) Nyman (1882: 713) . Narcissus elegans (Haw.) Spach var. obsoletus (Haw.) Burbidge (1875: 86) . Narcissus autumnalis Link subsp. obsoletus (Haw.) Richter (1890: 245) .

Type (lectotype, designated by Fernández Casas & Pizarro Domínguez 2007: 3):—Tab. 89, figure 4, Narcissus albus autumnalis medio obsoletus of Parkinson (1629: 90).

Heterotypic synonyms:— Narcissus serotinus Desfontaines (1798: 283) , nom. illeg. Narcissus elegans (Haw.) Spach (1846: 452) . Hermione elegans Haworth (1831: 13) . Lectotype (designated here): Plate 82 in Desfontaines (1798).

Notes:—Parkinson’s ‘ Narcissus albus autumnalis medio obsoletus ’ was described as the “white autumnal daffodil with the sullen crown” and his description rendered into modern English reads as follows: “This autumn daffodil has two or three leaves at the most, and very narrowly so, that some reckon it among the rush daffodils, being somewhat broad at the bottom and more pointed at the top. Between the leaves comes the stalk usually bearing two flowers and no more and each with six white leaves (tepals) each one pointed and not rounded. The cup is small and round, like that of the least rush daffodil, of a yellow color at the bottom but towards the edge a dun or sullen color.” The illustration shows two florets held almost at right angles to each other and there are two well developed flat leaves. This illustration appears to have been derived from a series of illustrations purporting to be the ‘leafy autumnal narcissus’. The earliest illustration of this taxon is that of Vallet 1608, followed by Sweerts (1612; a mirror image common when reproducing woodcuts) and Rabel (1622), who produced a somewhat simplified rendering, very similar to the illustration that Parkinson used some seven years later ( Fig. 6 ). We do not know where Vallet’s plants actually originated. His work was published as an illustration from the flowers in the garden of King Henry IV of France, but there is no assurance that it was actually grown there, although one would assume this to be the case. Tabernaemontanus’ (1590) woodcut labeled Narcissus juncifolius II ( Fig. 5 ) shows four open flowers and one bud, with the bulb only bearing two leaves. Desfontaines (1798) described N. serotinus for this taxon, basing it loosely on N. serotinus of Linnaeus, but redefining it to include both, unaware that these are not the same species. He stated that the plant is from Algeria and illustrated it with a plate by Redouté, showing two plants, one with a single flower on the scape and flowering without leaves (hysteranthous). The second has two leaves at the time of flowering (synanthous) and a scape bearing seven florets ( Fig. 7). He considered it a single variable species, but because of the earlier N. serotinus of Linnaeus (1753) Desfontaines’ name is illegitimate. Haworth (1819) published Hermione obsoleta for this species, referring to Parkinson’s polynomial, without having seen an actual specimen, but calling it the ‘leafy autumnal’, contrary to ‘the knotty stalked autumnal’ ( N. serotinus of Linnaeus). When he became aware of the plate of Desfontaines, he renamed the synanthous plant as Hermione elegans Haworth (1831) , calling it the ‘slender jasmine’. Both names actually refer to the same species, both having two leaves at the time of flowering (other species of the Tazetta group normally have more than two). The genus Hermione Salisb. ex Haworth (1819: 137) was reunited with Narcissus by Steudel (1841) and both names were transferred. Narcissus elegans became the name under which this species became known in horticulture, but N. obsoletus holds nomenclatural priority, being older, and is therefore the correct name for this species, as already pointed out by Fernandez Casas & Pizarro Dominguez (2007).

Figures

FIGURE 5. ‘Narcissus juncifolius albus autumnalis medio obsoletus’ (= N. obsoletus) of Sweerts (1612).

FIGURE 6. ‘Narcissus albus medio obsoletus autumnalis’ (= N. obsoletus) Plate 22 of Rabel (1622).