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Amaryllidaceae FAMILY

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

All parts of the plant are poisonous[1, 2, 3], the toxins being found mainly in the bulb[4], but even the flowers are mildly toxic[1]. An extract of the bulb, when applied to open wounds, has caused staggering, numbness of the whole nervous system and paralysis of the heart[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Narcissus pseudonarcissus is a very cold-hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to -20°c or lower. Prefers a deep rather stiff soil but succeeds in most soils[5]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Succeeds in sun or shade[6]. Grows well on woodland edges[7]. The flowers have the sweet woodland perfume of the primrose[8]. This is not very discernible when only a few plants are grown, but is quite noticeable in a group of plants[8].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. A short stratification will improve the germination of stored seed. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be left undisturbed in the pot for their first two years of growth. Give them an occasional liquid feed in the growing season to ensure they do not become nutrient deficient. When the plants become dormant in the summer, pot up the small bulbs placing 2 - 3 bulbs in each pot. Grow them on for another one or two years in the greenhouse before planting them out when they are dormant in late summer. Division of bulbs after the leaves die down in early summer[5]. Larger bulbs can be replanted immediately into their permanent positions, or can be stored in a cool place and then be planted out in the autumn. It is best to pot up the smaller bulbs and grow them on for a year before planting them out when dormant in the autumn. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Narcissus+pseudonarcissus>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants and Animals. — Altmann. H. · Chatto and Windus · 1980 · ISBN 0-7011-2526-8 ↩︎A small book, reasonable but not very detailed.
  3. [3]Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. — Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. · HMSO · 1984 · ISBN 0112425291 ↩︎Concentrates mainly on the effects of poisonous plants to livestock.
  4. [4]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland. — Brown. ↩︎
  7. [7]Making a Wildlife Garden. — Baines. C. ↩︎Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.
  8. [8]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  9. [9]Plant Sources of Galanthamine: Phytochemical and Biotechnological Aspects — Berkov S. et al · 2009 · https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2009.10817633 · ISBN 1310-2818 ↩︎
  10. [10]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  11. [11]Flowers of India — http://www.flowersofindia.net/ ↩︎A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars.
  12. [12]Galanthamine from snowdrop—the development of a modern drug against Alzheimer’s disease from local Caucasian knowled — Heinrich M. & Teoh H.L. · 2004 · http://10.1016/j.jep.2004.02.012 ↩︎
  13. [13]Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. — Grae. I. · MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. · 1974 · ISBN 0-02-544950-8 ↩︎A very good and readable book on dyeing.