***

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Voices from the Past

Letters from Burbidge, Engleheart and others in the late 19 th century.

“The Englishman of the Narcissi”A story about Peter Barr

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Copies of original correspondence given to The American Daffodil Society, Inc.,by Matthew Zandbergen.

Mr. Zandbergen was a prominent Dutch bulb grower and friend to earlydaffodil hybridizers.

My Dear BarrHerein I return your

colored sketch of AjaxJohnstonii and “Achilles”.

Hartland’s “Ard Righ”or “Irish King” 1886 is his“Golden Dragon” 1885. His N.“minor Maximus” (No. 23 ofhis list) is either a big form ofnanus or a form of N. lobularis.

I hope you had a goodfield day yesterday (Tuesday)

and saw some little novelty among the kinds exhibited.I shall be glad of a flower of anything distinct or

curious.Mild rains and sunshine daily here now and spring

flowers growing like mad!Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

***Dublin

22.iii.86

91 Haddington Road, Dublin19.xi.87

Dear Mr. Barr.

On ‘tother side are a few Corbularia habitats as given inKnuth’s “Enumeration” Salisbury, etc., but your plan is to find newhabitats as much- or more than old ones.

What is the matter with Maw whom I understand from afootnote to your letter is unwell?

Foster’s sketch and comparative study in parallel columnsis a capital plan of fixing on differences in nearly related vars.Your

son should adopt this plan in his studies. C. nivalis is too big or afair specimen. It is the smallest of all the Corbularias. His C.bulbocodium again by which C. conspicuus is intended I presume istoo small. The great point is to draw the whole series from wildspecimens if possible - as cultivated ones are apt to be big and [?]blethorai

Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

Corbularia cantabrica—Spain, Biscay, PyreneesC. serotina—Pyrenees, Spain, Portugal, N. Africa (Tingis)C. conspicuus—SpainC. tenuifolia—Mountains of BiscayC. obesa—Spain, Portugal, TangiersC. turgida—“wild near Tarbes” (Salisbury)C. monophyllus—N. Africa, Oran, etc.C. citrinus—Biarritz, etc.C. nivalis—Portugal, etc.

____________________________ *** ___91 Haddington Road, Dublin

10.1.882.

My Dear Mr. Barr:Brotero’s Narcissus of Flora

Lusitanica are

1. N. Pseudo Narcissus = “NarcissusTrombeta”

2. N. bicolor“ N. trombeta de duas [?]cores”. He says there is a double var. ofthis ? at Topes.

3. N. minor—on the Jerez. April & May.4. N. bulbocodium—Lisbon, Coimbra & in

South Portugal5. N. reflexus = N. triandrus albus6. N. calathinus = ? N. odorus as he says it

is self yellow on Mont Herminii.7. N. tazetta = “Narcisso de Inverno”

8. N. jonquilla = “Junquilho legitimo”There are no figures in Brotero nor

does he appear to have recognised anyvarieties except “double bicolor” afterwhich you should inquire, and doublejonquill (sic).

I return Wm. Threlfall’s letter.Many thanks. His conclusions are prettymuch the same as mine.

Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

______*** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

25.1.1888

My Dear Barr,Your letters to hand. The drawings

registered or insured will reach you on Saturday nextand I am very grateful for the sight of them. Howabout the leaves of Mr. Buxton’s hybrid Juncifolius xmuticus? Are they flat (abscissus) or rushlike(juncifolius)?

No one here appears to know why theDaffodils and Corbularias of one district should begold yellow and in another district sulphur yellow.It is as unexplainable as that of a red and a whiterose budded on the same stock and fed by the sameroots, but the foliage of each variety seem to varyin their chemistry. Hense [?] one with white andone with red blooms.

Mr. A.W. Tait sent me two forms of N.cyclamineus per post today, one having semi doubleflowers, the cup having two or three of its antherschanged into petals.

Kindly tell me what is the best map of theNarcissus district of Europe? Or of Spain andPortugal? Also its or their total cost. Maw oughtto be a capital authority on maps, compass, etc., etc.Is his health restored? Mr. Tait promises me plantsby steamer via Liverpool, the handiest way or routefor him and I say if he addresses to me inDublin care of “Slohe Parcel Express Co. Liverpool” they would bring them on to me? Is there any better or cheaper way than this?

I quite agree with you that the bulk of Narcissus are existent as wild species or varieties, or hybrids somewhere in Western Europe. Ofcourse early gardeners may have reared hybrids and seedling variations as John Evelyn Hill in his “Eden” and Miller recommend, but these die outso quickly if unattended and as a proof of this being so I know of no hybrid existing naturalised in Europe except in its original location or habitat.You will mark down every species and variety youfind on a good map of course and add altitude andaspect (by the compass) as I told you in the primerI sent some time ago.

I wish I was a rich man. I would take youto Portugal in my yacht and land you on the coastnear your proposed raids, etc. I and my wife intendgoing to Holland in April (end of) if possible to seethe bulbs and get a rest for a week or so.

Buxton’s juncifolius x abscissus hybrid iscurious and I am anxious to know what its leavesare like. If you knew (Crewe H. Harpur) send me10 lines on him along with Maw with whom hewent to Spain.

Faithfully yours, F.W. Burbidge

______*** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

25-1-88

Dear Mr. Tait,

Your kind and welcomeletter and box of Narcissi per postduly to hand this morning. I havebeen confined to the house more orless for the past two months withcold and chest troubles, but I amvery thankful to say that nearly allthe time I have been able to writeand to draw so that the loss in someways has perhaps been a gain to mynarcissus book. Barr big-heartedand generous as ever has lent me hisdaughters’ drawings for the past twoyears, 153 species and varieties inall so that the copying and notes onthem have taken me some time.Amongst them are some drawingsof the Oporto hybrids by Mrs. Tait -and the little sketch of N. triandrusconcolor of Coimbra pleased memuch. It was like a little sketch byTurner, at least I thought it so,though Ruskin might not have doneso. I shall indeed be most gratefulfor any species or vars. or Narcissiyou can send me either for drawingand drying as specimens - or as rootsfor growing.

Iris grow well here and I. stylosa and I. reticulata cyaned are now in flower, out of doors, also I have “at last” and for the first time acouple of flowers on N. (Corbularia) monophylla of Algeria.

Your Nar. tazetta (South Portugal) whiteperianth and chrome or orange cup is very like butsmaller than N. tazetta as figured by Moggridge inhis “Contributions to the Flora of Mentone” (plate23) from a specimen gathered at Palazzo Arenza onthe Reviera [sic]. He figures a 7-flowered scape.

N. tazetta papyraceus is a very variable plantand it ranges from the tiny Nar. jasmined ofRudbeck’s rare “Campi Elysii” with flowers 5-7 on ascape this size ------>[drawing is 2-3/4 inches tall] tothe large flowered N. tazetta papyraced withindividual flowers nearly 2 inches in diameter.

The N. cyclamineus turning double is acurious thing.

I shall be very glad to get a packet (small) ofChrysanthemum seed from you if so be that yousaved any this year or last.

Any Iris or Narcissus will be most welcomeand any parcels via Liverpool addressed to me careof Slohe Parcel Express Co would reach me quitesafely. You will not of course go to any expenses asto shipping or carriage as our people here gladly payall such charges on contributions to their garden.Kindly tell me of any plants you would like to add toyour own collection.

Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

______*** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

25.1.1888

Dear Mr. Tait:

Since I wrote to you yesterday, Ihave examined the semi-double formof Narcissus cyclamineus you wereso kind as to send to me per post. Itis very curious and interesting and Iherein hope to enclose you a roughdiagram of the flower, as it illustratesthe first stages of doubling, andshows how both stamens and

stigmas and style become changedinto petaloid devisions [sic]. I neverbefore met with such a perfect andbeautiful example, and it is mostinstructive. I have also sent a copyof the diagram to our friend, Mr. C.Wolley-Dod, as he is so deeplyinterested in the "doubling" of thenarcissi.

I should be glad to hear thehistory of the individual plant you sokindly sent to me.

1. Is it a wild plant, or was itcultivated in your garden?

2. If cultivated, did it appear byaccident, or had you previouslyobserved its tendency to "double" inits wild habitat?

3. Is it the only semi-double variety you have seen, or is it one of a series?In a normal flower you will find the style triangular in section thus------and the stigma is always 3-lobed but when normal the lobes are

brought close together (coherant or connate) by the adherance of the devisions [sic] of the style as at b------>.In Gladiolus the lobes of the style are coherant, but Schizostylis is, or was, placed in a seperate [sic] genus because the style is thus devided

[sic]--------->and not thus ----- >I have not seen a more instructive

specimen than this, and I am anxious foryou to know all about it as some slightreturn for your generosity, but the chancesare you observed all this before youdispatched the specimen to me.

Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

_____ *** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

10.ii.88

Dear Mr. Tait:

Your box of Narcissi and yourletter and packages ofchrysanthemum seeds came safe tohand this morning and I am sincerelyand gratefully obliged to you foryour generous kindness.

Yes! I should say your littleNarcissus is N. minutiflorus, but youquery one form as possibly N.jonquilloides, but all sentrepresented the former kind. Both asyou know have been figured inWillkomm's "Illustrationes FloraHisp." but in case you should notjust have his fasicules beside you, Ihave made you rough tracings of hisfigures of both species, and to hisfigure of N. minutiflorus I haveadded Herbert's first figure from the"Amaryllidaceae" and your own 4-flowered specimen and one or two ofthe single ones (solitary floweredscapes) to hand today.

I suspect that both Herbert in1837 and Willkomm at a morerecent date figured wild and perhapsstarved specimens, at any rate theplants you so kindly forward mehave larger flowers. I should saythat N. minutiflorus and Njuncifolius are very near relationsand no doubt the intermediatesbetween the extreme forms will yetbe found! So also in the case ofWillkomm's N. jonquilloides whichhas to me quite a N. intermedius"look" about it, but I am only

judging from the figure as Inever yet saw the plant. Mr.Baker in his new arrangementof the "Narcissus" in hisforthcoming "Handbook ofAmaryllidaceae" places N.jonquilloides under N.jonquilla, and I see he hasalso placed N. minutiflorusunder N. juncifolius. I hopeyou may soon lay hands on N.jonquilloides. Herbert in"Amaryll" figured N.minutiflorus as Queltia

pusilla from a specimenpreserved in the Herbariumof Sir Joseph Banks found byMasson between Ayemonteand Huelha.

Barr starts to Paris todayon his journey to your sunnyland. He says he starts fullyarmed and equipped this timeand like the hero of yourCervantes he means businessand adventure.

N. cyclamineus now openhere under a sunny wall neargreenhouse. What a gem itis!

When next sending if youshould have any N. triandrusblooming please send me aflower or two. Ours are lateand I want the pollen of N.triandrus for hybridisingpurposes.

With all thanks believeme,

Faithfully yours,F. W. Burbidge

(clipped to above letter)

hybrids between these parents whichas Herbert asserts proved his

“guesses at truth” to be correct.Mr. Buxton’s hybrid N.

juncifolius x N. muticus certainly hasa N. odorus minor “look” about it,altho. quite different.

Now I of course neitheraffirm nor deny Herbert’s statementas made in his paper on“Hybridisation among vegetables”but I wish you would keep an eye onthe question raised and from thispoint of view.

If ever you come across thecurious title Carragenaas, andespecially C. dubia as figured byWillkomm in Ill. Pl. Hisp. I shall beso glad to see it, as it may revealsomething as to the morphology ofthe cup or chalice in Narcissi.

In a recent letter youmentioned “ringing” orcircumvallation [?] as a method ofpropagation. It is a very old Chineseand Japanese dodge also Indian andMalayan. The stem is lacerated orbarked, and a joint of bamboo is splitand bound together around the ring orfracture and then filled with earth.Another dodge I saw in Borneo wasthe partial breaking of a branch bybending it upwards, i.e. erect and alump of wet moss is then bound

around the wounded part--roots soon form and then the branch is cut off and planted. It is a sort of aeriallayering. If you have not seen my “Cultivated Plants, their propagation and Improvement,” I shall be glad to send a copy for your kind acceptance.

I quite envy “Peter the Great” his sunbath in Spain while here on St. Valentine’s Day we were blowing our fingers and making ugly faces at “Jack Frost.”N. cyclamineus is a brave little chap nodding his head to everybody and he don’t seem to mind the cold a bit.

Faithfully yours, F.W. Burbidge

_____ *** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

5.viii.88

My Dear Mr. Barr.“Rip van Winkle” is N.

minor fl. pl. without a doubt—that is a double var. of the N.minor of modern gardens andnot the “minor” of Redoute, orof the Alpes Maritimes.

I saw Brown’s so calledseedling “double nanus” at theNar. Conference, but I do notbelieve it is a double “nanus.”

You will want a sectionof Ajax to comprehend thesulphur colored kinds as distinctfrom the whites and the fullyellows. Then you can pigeonhole “St. Brigid” N. palliduspraecox vars. N. Johnsoni [sic]and other sulphur sorts like“Exquisite” etc. therein. It willnever do to call the sulphurcolored sorts whites. “St.Brigid” is quite different to “G.Jekyll” the bulb of the last var.being most delicate and that ofSt. B. a capital grower.

What you called N.odorus minor fl. pl. is really thedouble var. of N. o. rugulosusand is quite distinct in colourand leafage to N. o. heminalis.N. heminalis has darker bluegreen leaves and the flowers areof a richer yellow than in any

other var. of N. odorus. Thereare certainly two forms of N.o. rugulosus, a larger and asmaller.

Miss Agnes’ drawingswere all sent back at your ownrequest before you set out forSpain this year, and wereacknowledged as received inKing St.

The large paperwhite,bulbs of which you sent herefor trial, is the larger N.papyraceus as figured byMoggridge in “Cont. to theFlora of Mentone” plate LXX.(You can see the book at LovellReeves who publishes it.) Itflowers in December atMentone. It is said to be veryabundant at San Remo.

The old “totus albus”varieties are very variable, thebest having flowers two inchesacross and 20 in a truss, andthere are all variations betweenthis and N. T. micrantha whichbears 4-5 flowered scapes offlowers barely 1/2 inchdiameter.

If this large floweredN. papyraceus can be obtained“true” as you sent itto me it will be a great improvement on the Dutch stock which is good, bad, and indifferent, i.e., mixed.

I wonder you keep on at what Haworth said. He said a good deal but I defy anyone to be certain of what he meant. Baker (see Bot. Mag. [?] 7012)thinks N. johnstonei [sic] may be the Oileus hexangeularis of Haworth, an opinion with which I cannot at present agree.

What novelties have you found? Any larger whites?Faithfully yours, F.W. Burbidge

____*** __91 Haddington Road, Dublin

9.viii.88

Dear Mr. Barr,

Kindly let me seeMiss Agnes’ drawings ofNarcissi made this springand I will look throughthem and return thempromptly.

Willie orRudolph wrote for aspecimen of a hybrid yousent me and I returnedwhat I thought was it, butthey said it was not thething and sent it back tome. If Miss Agnespainted it, I shall no doubtbe able to recognise thespecimen if you mark thedrawing and I will thensend it back to you.

You really mustcome over to Ireland nextspring and see our “IrishDaffodils.” which flower amonth earlier here thanwith you near London.

“White Minor”(Irish) is a nice thing alittle like Nelson’s “nanusalbus” but a muchstronger grower.

You may restassured that N. odorusplenus is the double formof N. o. rugulosus.

I am now nearlysure that all our largewhite Ajax of gardens are

cultivated forms or phases of the N. moschatus of Val d’Arras which is extremely variable. and becomes much taller and larger after a year or two of gardenculture. N. poeticus verbanus [sic] (followed by division sign) is also quite growing out of character here being taller with larger flowers.

A batch of

Da....? mixed Italianpoeticus I saw in flowerthis spring wereextremely interesting and

variable. Some forms [?]N. p. poetarum from Italybloomed at Cork in

March in open air.What has

become of Mr. Leo

Maw?I wrote

to Dulan & Co.about thenarcissus bookand they seemedwilling toentertain it,advising that Iand Maw shouldjoin our forces,but this a bigman like Mawmight not like todo.

You do not tellme what new narcissi youfound in your travels thisyear! What is N.asturicus?

Let me have thedrawings for a day ortwo.

Faithfully yours,

F.W. Burbidge

Peter Barr

_____ *** _____The Englishman of the Narcissi

El Correo Gallego , Deario de la Manana14 Dec 1888

Probably some of our readersmay recollect having seen duringthe months of April and May last,whether in this capital or whetherin some other part of theProvince—traveling on foot andaccompanied by a servant—aknight errant, whose strange attireattracted attention even among us,accustomed as we are to theeccentricities of dress peculiar toforeign tourists.

Very baggy knee-breeches,leggings of yellow leather andblack boots adorned with greatnails, a jacket after the fashion of

a blouse, collarless, wide, crossedwith multifarious pockets in every direction, confined by a belt, thewhole of a grey tone matching the beard and hair of the owner,and a handsome and fine fur cap of the shape formerly worn bywaggoners and even now occasionally met with in the mountainsduring the winter, constituted the attire of our personage, who, toa fair stature and natural elegance, added the special attraction of asmiling countenance, and particularly that of the intelligentglances of his blue eyes, incessantly moving behind their goldrimmed spectacles. Field glasses and a multitude of pocket books,papers, and guides, peeping out of his innumerable pockets,completed his outward appearance.

Behind him respectfully marched his companion, a servantof as vulgar an aspect as can be found anywhere, carrying

rolled up under his arm the map of Asturias of the never to be forgotten Schuttz [?]."Who are these two individuals?" asks the inquisitive reader.The first is known in Asturias and Galicia as "the Englishman of the Narcissi;" the second is a Frenchman, a native of Gavarnie in the

Pyrenees, a soi-disant interpreter, whose chief characteristicis his knowing English hardly at all, Spanish even less, andhis own mother-tongue only so far as the bad patois of theLandes and Western Pyrenees. So much for the Squire, whoby the bye, seemed a stupid lout, better pleased to travel as agentleman and get his daily wages than to remain atGavarnie waiting to be employed as a guide by some oneof the strangers who come to see the natural

amphitheater formed by its mountains and which hasmade the place famous.

The Englishman's conversation justified the favorableopinion which—in spite of his dress—must surely havebeen formed by those who saw Mr. Peter Barr, for such ishis name, and he inhabits No. 12 King Street, CoventGarden, in London.

Having once solved the only doubt which troubled himon beginning a conversation, namely, what language couldhis interlocutor understand, he began to talk to me in hisown. Imagine to yourselves an express train, and you willbe able to form some slight idea of it. It was absolutelyimpossible to follow him, and yet this was the leastfatiguing part of the business. Having once explained theobject he had in view, he began a torrent of questions, anda pulling out of note-books, and a jotting down in this placeand in that, and requests for me to write down what hecould not understand or what he could not spell in ourlanguage; and if by chance any matter, however out of theway, were touched upon, he instantly copied and madenotes of it--and all this did

not prevent his returning at once to the subject of

paramount importance to Mr. Barr at that period—namely—Narcissi!"I leave London," he said. "I travel about for some

months. I collect information and botanical, geologicaland mineralogical specimens; I divide them among thefriends who devote themselves to each of thesespecialties, and after awhile, I begin again."

"And you do not take part in scientific review orpublish some work?" asked I.

"I am thinking about it and will keep you informed,"replied he.

Probably I should have forgotten the naturalist had Inot received a letter from him a few days since.

Among other things he says, "Before leavingEngland I expected to find sulphur-colored Narcissifrom Bordeaux to the borders of Asturias and Galicia,and thenceforward, following the coast line,—paleyellow and white ones. My explorations from Oviedo to

Oporto have confirmed this expectation, as thosebetween the first-named place and the French frontierhad already done. I observed that the sulphur-coloredpresent themselves invariably on chalky soils,disappearing on all others. On the other hand, on theGalician granite and hard rocks in general, only pale orwhite ones are to be seen. Climate cannot have producedthis distinction; as to the soil on which theyspontaneously grow, it was of the same characterthroughout, namely, the yellowish clay of the uplandpastures; hence, not being able to account for the varietyof color in Narcissi by the nature of the soil, are we toattribute it to the sub-soil?

If in your mountain excursions you could makeobservations and send me specimens, together with thename of the place, the nature and geological formationof the ground, you would not only do a personal serviceto myself, but to science as well."

Further on he adds, "At Busdongo the Narcissi arepale yellow, with sulphur and white or whitish petalson the hard rocks. At Villanin there are some of'Sarminoso' color." (This word is quite unknown tome and I cannot find it in the dictionary; can it be amisprint for 'carminoso'--carmine tinted?) "Afterleaving Oviedo I took the high road along the coast,and at Tapia I saw the last sulphur specimens; atVivero and Jubia I began to see the whitish kinds,and then they continued through Corunna, Vigo andMonforte as far as Oporto."

I remember that about twelve years since, Istumbled in Oviedo upon another naturalist, aGerman, who came all the way from Berlin for thesole purpose of confirming or rectifying somedoubtful botanical data concerning a plant describedin Wilkomm's Flora as occurring at Manjoza and nearthe fountain of Fozaneldi. That I could understand,for an important work was in question, and I knewthat in Berlin there are practical men capable ofundertaking commissions of the kind. In Mr. Barr'swork, however, I failed to see,—why deny thefact?—any scientific object whatsoever, and I lookedupon it as a species of monomania. But I now suspectit to have a very real commercial importance, verymuch in keeping with the character of the sons ofAlbion; this idea is suggested to me by the

recollection of something I have read recently, and byan article published by the said Mr. Barr in "The Pall-Mall Gazette" of the 23rd of last month, under thetitle, "The Price of Orchids."

If my memory does not play me false, Narcissihave recently been brought into fashion in Englandby politicians who employ them as emblems of apolitical group or party, and who wear in the coat

buttonhole a Narcissus of a color previously agreed upon.Hence, beyond all doubt, the necessity for procuring these flowers, and it is evident that their high price in the market is quite a sufficient

motive for the English to move heaven and earth and to try to acclimatize and reproduce them in their own country. It is true that the sale offlowers, bulbs, etc., which goes on in the capital ofthe United Kingdom is something enormous; Mr.Henry Stevens bears witness to the fact that millions oforchids have passed through his hands, obtaining forinstance the collection of Mr. John Day of Tottenhamfor the sum of £10,000 (or a million reales!!). In orderto procure these plants all the countries of the worldare laid under contributions, especially India and S.America.

The Narcissi are to be found in a morecircumscribed area, but since precisely those whichare most esteemed are to be found growing wild inAsturias and Galicia, and since we have no lack ofpersons who are fond of cultivating and

propagating flowers, we recommend the subject tothem; they may find it to their advantage tocommunicate with Mr. Barr, and also to devote a fewdays in April and May to gathering these flowers,being firmly persuaded that their time would not bethrown away.

Thus is it that the ancient naturalists, those truemartyrs to science, who, at the cost of infinitesuffering,—many perishing in the quest—opened outnew horizons to the Geographical botany of the worldwith no other stimulus than glory,—often in scantmeasure,—have come to be succeeded by these othersmore in harmony with our modern life. And whilethose enriched herbaries difficult to study and usefulonly to a limited number of persons, these, byencouraging the cultivation of plants, (which in everylatitude constitute the best ornament of the earth,) inplaces where they may

best be admired, realize rich profits, but we cannot doubt that they likewise render a service to humanity, by teaching it more and more to knowand admire the works of the Creator.

_____ *** _____Trinity College Botanical Gardens, Dublin

28.1.1890

Dear Sir:

Very many thanks foryour letter of the 19th dulyreceived and for the specimenflowers of a semi-double var. ofN. tazetta, something like“Double Roman” (N. cyprius fl.pl. of Haworth as figured {singleform} in Sweets Fl. L...?, iiseries). It is most interesting tome as being in all probability awild double form and I shouldlike one bulb at the, to you, mostconvenient season.

I was glad to see yourwriting for I had thought severaltimes about you during this latedispute and wondered if youwere inconvenienced thereby as Iam afraid all English residents inPortugal have been more or less.I hope things are better now andthat all may be settled in anamicable manner or losses toinnocent individuals will bedeplorable.

Our friend “Peter theGreat” has at last removed fromTooting to Long Ditton nearHampton Court--alluvial soil ona dry and warm gravelly bottom,

Does the Merodon or “Narcissus Fly” trouble your cultivated bulbs in Oporto? It is bad here in hot summers.With many thanks, Faithfully yours, F.W. Burbidge

whereon he hopes to grow hisbulbs and delicate stock betterthan formerly.

This is the earliestseason I ever remember. N.(Ajax) minimus open on NewYear’s Day in open air and nowN. cyclamineus, N.

bulbocodium (of Portugal), N.pallidus praecox and N. ReginaMargherita are in bloom also.

There is to be a four-dayshow and conference onNarcissi held by RIFTS atChiswick on April 15, 16, 17, &18th next and most of us aredown for papers but I am quitedisappointed not to see yourname, as your papers from thenative habitats of so many kindsare singularly interesting and Ihope you will send a few notesat least on that occasion.

All our bulbs of“Double Roman” this year arecup double only v. my plateXXXIII, and not double in cupand perianth also as in Pl.XXXIV and I think the samebulbs may vary in this mannerfrom year to year. The “oldmasters” figure both phases asif they were different plants.

__ *** __Appleshaw

AndoverSeptember 19, 1891

Dear Mr. Barr:

Thanks for thebulbs, which shall beduly planted as youdirect, and progressshall be reported.

I will nottrouble you with a longletter, but will call yourattention only to onepoint—as to the originof N. Leedsi.

In your letteryou say “it is doubtfulwhether Leeds &Backhouse had N.montanus.” There isno doubt whatever thatLeeds both had theplant and worked withit.

In yourcatalogue you remarkthat N. Leedsi elegansis figured in“Gardeners Magazineof Botany.” NowLeeds in his notes,which were printedwith the figure,expressly states thatthis flower came from

N. montanus crossed withpollen of N. P. angustifolius.And Leeds says in the samenotes that he has “3 cropsfrom N. montanus crossedwith both long and short-tube kinds.”

He also says he hasseedlings from N. bicolorcrossed with N. montanus.

He calls N.

montanus “Trospoculiformiis” but there isno doubt but what he meansmontanus—indeed hesometimes calls it montanus.

I wonder you havenot noticed the curioussimilarity in bulb betweenLeedsi type and montanus—the bulb is peculiar in bothcases and the likenessunmistakable.

When I show youmy flower from ornatus xmontanus you will see in amoment it is Leedsi.

Yours truly,

G.W. Engleheart

My seedling like Stella came in a batch of seedlings labelled and recorded as “Early Ajax x poeticus.” In my first year or two I did not take such accuratetrouble as I do now, but sowed seed more in mixed lots, and therefore cannot tell you the precise Ajax used. But the poeticus must have beenangustifolius or ornatus. I never work with angustifolius now, but did at first.

10.i.94

My Dear Mr. Tait:

Many thanks for thespecimens you so kindly sent meon the 3rd of January which camequite safely and fresh as when theyleft you.

They look very like N.papyraceus, and are not N.canariensis of Herbert.

If you can send me N.dubius in flower at any time, I shallbe glad to have a specimen.

Our friend Barr kindly sentme bulbs from near Nismes, but Icannot induce them to flower. Itgrows thereabouts on hills alongwith N. juncifolius which it indeedsomewhat resembles in stature andtenuity [?]. Herbert never saw thisplant true, I feel sure.

N. viridiflorus is anothernarcissus that defies myattempts at culture. True I haveflowered collected bulbs, but theflowers were inside them whenthey left their home in Spain.

Have you in yourvineyards any variety or formsof vines with highly coloured

foliage? I am trying to get up stockof a few of the best coloured leaved

vines for ornament in our park here around the College which ourauthorities have recently handed over to my care.

Ever since I saw thevines in Italy draping andfestooning dwarfed olivesand maples like the abovesketch, I have felt howbeautiful they would begrown for ornament alone inour climate where evenMiller’s Burgundy onlyripens once in ten years or so.Vilmorin tells me there arefive or six vines that colourwell in the French vineyards,including one— Tinturier,which I think you sent toChiswick RHS gardens.

If you have cuttingsor eyes to share of anyvigorous kinds that colourwell, I should be glad ofthem. We could starve themin old lime rubble and so getthem to colour well, perhapsin this dull climate.

We are all going wildhere now over VitisCoignetiae (=V. rugosa =V.

amurensis) a hardy Japanesevine that colours well, said to be a form of V. Labrusced. Are any of the American cults. vars. of native vines any use to you in Portugal eitheras stocks for grafting V. vinifera upon, or as fruiting vines?

Wishing you health and prosperity during 1894.Faithfully yours,F.W. Burbidge

6.ii.05

Dear Mr. Barr:

Kindly excuse my nothaving replied to yours of Jan.25th before this date.

I am very glad to hearyou are off to Majorca etc. inMay. It is a little late for therush of spring bulbs and thingsbut better late than never.

Mrs. [?] FannyGeoghegan who brought homethe true Helleborus lividus toldme that a Duc de _________ ? isboss of Majorca and he and hispeople know the flora well.

“Man wants but littlehere below” but the best ofeverything is quite good enoughfor me. Alas! I do not knowwhat is best in the Balearic Isles,but you have eyes and will seewhat you will see, and scrape upthe most worthy.

In any case see theLivid Hellebore at home, and tellus of its natural conditions, etc.

Sancho Panza in DonQuixote says “One thing islooked for, and another is found”and so you in tracking theHellebore will see lots of thingsno doubt. P.B. always told methat he found the localapothecaries knew the botany ofany district better than mostpeople, so go in and ask forsome triple peppermints, oranything, and then tap them

gently as to the flora.Where there’s a willthere’s away!! as thepoliceman said to thecook!

Joking apart,I hope you will havea good time and goodluck among theflowers, etc. of theislands.Yours ever faithfully,F.W. Burbidge

_ *** _Portuguese Narcissi

May 20, 1931

Dear Mr. Barr:

I am very glad to hear that you are so much better, your recovery isevidently only a question of time and fortunately you have the summer beforeyou. I never heard of narcissus Miss Hutcheson, as you know there was onecalled Mrs. Buchanan but I do not know its parentage. The Baron's lettersfrom your father and others regarding narcissus were sent to your firm Ibelieve by the Baroneza. I used to have some very good pulchellus bulbswhich were sent to the Baron by Mr. Wolley Dod, the cup was pale cream—constricted at the edge—and the long perianth segments were deep primrose.They did not increase and they finally died of old age and a wet summer.Pulchellus is evidently rare in this country, much more so than the paleyellow concolor, the really gold concolor is also rare. Concolor is usuallyfound in red (?) clay the color of Devonshire soil. I have never heard of N.juncifolius being found by any of my friends. In the Baron's notes on thenarcissi of Portugal, he says that he has received specimens from E. Portugalof N. jonquilloides. He says that he has received a specimen from SouthernPortugal of N. gaditanus that it is said to grow in Southern Portugal but thathe had never visited the locality. Several varieties of triandrus xbulbocodium hybrids have been found lately where the two species growtogether, in poor soil they are usually like the enclosed very bad painting; thisyear some fine ones were found on a mountain. I have lent my grid flowerdrier to the owner of the bulbs hoping that they may flower next year. Thecollection of pictures of varieties of N. triandrus consists of photographs—natural size—colored by hand. Unfortunately nothing will induce the ownerto show them or copy them or to allow anyone else to do so. There does notseem to be any botanist here to whom one can apply for information. I amtrying to find out the name of the Professor of Botany at Coimbra University.My brother's friend Dr. Henriques, a former Professor, was really interestedin narcissus but some just go on with their routine work. I wish that I couldhave been of use to you. I am however too old to see about these thingsproperly and can only collect odds and ends of information. Do not troubleto return the sketch of hybrids. With best wishes for your speedy recovery.

Yours sincerely,Rosalie S. Vivian

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Narcissus

List from Flora de Portugal by Antonio Xavier Pereira Coutinho

Bulbocodium and nivalis, Also x pseudonarcissus N. and xtriandrus,cyclamineus,

gaditanus,intermedius,jonquilla,biflorus,odorus,

tazetta,tazetta papyraceus.tazetta panizzianus,

intermedius,triandrus,reflexus,serotinus,rupicola,scaberulus,minutiflorus.

He does not mention pulchellus or concolor.

Dear Mr. Barr:

I am sending Simmonds amemorandum, on a separate sheet,of the spelling of Campernelle, sothat he can hand it to Chittendenand the Council. Proper names inItalian can end in -ella or -elli, butcannot end in -elle.

Your account of mydaffodil raising is pretty correct. Iwent to Appleshaw in 1881,having up to then lived in a small

house with no garden in Leicester. For the first few years I workedat re-making the hybrids made by Herbert and existing, a few wild,in the Leeds, Backhouse and Nelson collections acquired by yourfather. When I showed a few flowers at RHS, and they attractedattention, I turned to the raising of garden flowers. I had also raisedmany interesting and pretty things by various crosses between thecorbularias, triandrus, juncifolius, etc., but these proved "coldhouse" plants and too troublesome to keep. You may remember, forinstance, that I reproduced triandrus pulchellus exactly by a crossjuncifolius x triandrus.

I was always very bad at keeping notes, but I thinkSeagull and Albatross were the first flowers I showed at RHS.My first bit of strong red was Mars, brilliant but poor in form.Will Scarlet made a sensation for color. It came from a largeform of muticus, collected by Mr. Wolley Dod, x poet.

poetarum. My first good white Ajax was White Queen. Later onmy White Emperor was the foundation of many of the present finewhites. I raised many batches from M.J. Berkeley x C.J.Backhouse. These were very early, tall and vigorous, mostly loosepetalled, but running through a large range of yellows with

A Letter to Peter R. Barr from Rev. George Engleheart, March 1, 1933.

George Engleheart

some reds. W. Ware bought most of these for early market bloom, but they perished by eelworm after his death. The poets were my chief interest: Iworked all available forms into my strain­-all that your father had, some red-eyed forms from the Pyrenees, collected and given me by

Mr. Jas. Alter of Shepton Mallet, one or two from oldgardens, etc. Horace was one of my first, ornatus xpoetarum. Secrett has all these, but eelworm took a fewvery fine ones of my later raising.

I wish I had worked more with Maximus. I hadseveral as good as or better than Magnificence, and Leakhad from me one he calls Forerunner, earlier still. I lostmany in the devastating first years of eelworm. Of recentyears, with comparatively few plants, I have concentratedon whites and the pink coloring. Perhaps Easter Morn,which Secrett had from me, is the best example, but I shouldhave some of advanced pink coloring in my unfloweredseedlings.

I cannot say whether Leeds & Backhouse madesecond generation crosses, but they had time to make them.I have always supposed that they (or one of them) obtainedHerbert's plants, but I failed in my hunt to ascertain whatbecame of Herbert's material.

I raised the first garden hybrid of triandrus,Snowdrop, which still exists with Mr. J. C. Williams,untouched where it was planted some 35 years ago. AndI suppose my Buttercup was the first garden hybrid ofjonquil.

Mr. P. D. Williams has had a good [?J of thisinformation from me: he also is writing for the new YearBook.

Yours sincerely, George Engleheart

October 12, 1933Dear Mr. Barr:

Thank you for letting me see the "Sir Watkin"correspondence which I return. I never had much to do withthe flower or its history; so far as I remember, someone,probably Mr. Wolley Dod, gave me a bulb or two on its firstappearance, and I heard that Dicksons of Chester had bought itall, or as much as they could get, for 1200. I rather doubt thisamount. It was not useful to me in my work, for I couldn't getit to seed and its pollen gave no results.

You should certainly write an article on it for the nextDaffodil Year Book. I have told Chittenden that he willprobably have some difficulty in getting contributions for it, asmost of the specialists have already given their experience orknowledge.

Now as to the origin of Sir W. That Pickstone raised itis out of the question, and putting all the evidence together Iam strongly of the belief that it was a flower of very ancientintroduction into Wales. Take the parallel case of the whitetrumpet daffodils. These were recovered from old gardens inEngland and Ireland, nearly always near the sites ofmonasteries or other religious "houses." I myself obtainedcernuus from an old garden in Amesbury, where there wasonce the famous abbey, and I got double cernuus from a spotstill named "Chantrey" Copse in a Wiltshire wood, and theremains of a Chantrey or isolated chapel are still there. Waleswas full in medieval times of monasteries etc., and it is quiteprobable that at the Dissolution under Henry VIII, when thesites lay desolate, the flowers cultivated by the monks stilllingered and found their way into cottage and other gardens.The monks cultivated them chiefly for their medicinal uses,real or supposed, and you probably have heard that theChartreuse liqueur is said to contain daffodil juices. Anyhow Iam quite prepared to believe that nearly all the daffodils foundin England, Wales, or Ireland by the earliest writers such as

Parkinson and other "herbalists" were importations in thisway. I think it much more likely that Sir W. was a naturalSpanish or Portuguese hybrid, say between Maximus or otherlarge wild Ajax and poeticus, than that it originated as a crossmade in England. I put Tenby out of consideration; it is toosmall and poor of constitution. As to Maximus, I think it is atruly wild form from the Spanish peninsular, because there isa chain of similar forms running from minor up to it. It wasprobably picked out as a striking flower and got into semi-cultivation where Mr. Wolley Dod found it.

We have to remember that no daffodil except N.pseudonarcissus, the Lent lily, is truly wild in Britain; allothers were imported, first (most probably) by the religiousorders, then from Holland when interest in them as gardenflowers began.

It has been held by some that the Leek, the emblem ofWales, was really a daffodil, and it is much more probablethat the emblem, as that of other countries, was a flowerrather than a kind of "stinking" onion!

Yours sincerely,George Engleheart

P.S. I had Maximus from Wolley Dod, from Trinity College,Dublin, and from Hartland. After some seasons with me alllooked much alike. I crossed it with the early floweringkinds, spurius, H. Irving, etc. that I had from your father'slists. Magnificence and Forerunner came out of this, and Istill have one here, fine color and early.