Description
True Narcissus serotinus is a lovely, autumn-flowering species usually bearing just one, lightly fragrant white flower on each of its miniature stems. These flowers have a shallow, yellow cup which is not incurved and which can clearly be seen to consist of 6 smaller segments.
The long-known name of Narcissus serotinus (of both horticulture and literature) actually consists of 2, perhaps 3, similar species lumped under one name. One of those names is N. obsoletus (in Mediterranean countries generally) and we offer MK.6374 (formerly called “serotinus“) under that newly accepted name. One of the species involved is actually true Narcissus serotinus. This is now regarded as belonging more to an “Atlantic element” rather than being a truly Mediterranean species and it is found only in southern and eastern portion of Spain as well as a small area of adjacent Portugal. It also grows across the straits of Gibraltar in western Morocco. It is much less well-known in horticulture. Many other reports for “N. serotinus” almost certainly relate to the old concept of the plant (the one which contains 2 or 3 species), and so they are not reliable.
Flowering is best achieved by growing the plants under alpine glass, with a hot, dry summer rest. We find that this is a bulb that really does benefit from a hot summer rest, the sort of rest we advise against for most other bulbs! We leave ours under glass all summer, at a time when we move the other glasshouse inhabitants outside into the comparative cool of covered frames. We leave them dry, then re-water from mid September. We give a first watering of a balanced 7:7:7 feed (at full strength), to stimulate new growth, then wait a couple of weeks after the first watering, before watering again. This usually produces tiny, beautifully fragrant flowers throughout October and into November. It can be shy to flower, needing this little bit of trickery to tip it into bloom. After flowering, the flower stems take the place of leaves (which are not produced on flowering plants), the stems elongate and fatten and perform all of the photosynthesis that the plant needs to produce a larger bulb. Under no circumstances should these stems be removed. This is the latest to flower of the Iberian autumn daffodils and based on experiences and observations of one of our customers, backed up by our own, we would suggest that it needs to be kept above 10ºC at night and preferably closer to 12º-15ºC during flower bud formation and flowering, to ensure success (low temperatures are perhaps most likely to occur at night). It just doesn’t seem to like being chilled at bud/flowering time. Warm it up and the flowers will pick up, keep it too cool and it may well abort or not develop flowers inside its buds.
A loam-based compost, with very good drainage and good feeding, will produce the best growth. They are not reliable from year-to-year outside in the garden. It isn’t cold – this will take down to 8°C (45°F) or lower under glass, what it hates is too much summer rain and too much water in winter combined with low temperatures. The plants appear to be virtually cold-hardy here, but cannot take low temperatures combined with excess wetness or cope with summer wetness either.
Stock raised from seed originally found south of Moron de la Frontera, Seville province, Andalusia.
Morphologically obsoletus and serotinus are distinct and the list of differences between them can be summarised as follows:-
* N. serotinus invariably has a yellow corona which is divided into 6 clearly discernible lobes
(N. obsoletus is variable, the corona can be orange, though it can also be olive or yellow. It is frequently incurving and usually undivided & slightly triangular in appearance. If divided, then this is into just 3 parts).
* N. serotinus has just one or very rarely two flowers on each scape [though I have personally seen an exceptional plant with 4 flowers on one stem]
(N. obsoletus usually has several flowers per scape, though sometimes smaller plants can have just one)
* N. serotinus has a perianth tube which is quite suddenly inflated, segmented along its whole length but then pinched in behind the flower, it is shaped like a wine bottle.
(N. obsoletus has a narrow, straight-edged, though flaring, perianth tube without any segments along its whole length – it can have some segments at the flower end though).
* N. serotinus has no leaves present when it flowers
(N. obsoletus can sometimes have naked flower stems, but more usually it has one or two leaves present at flowering).
The above probably all sounds very “botanical” but the differences are really obvious once you have seen both plants and as a rule obsoletus is larger and more vigorous than serotinus.
