March 24, 2023

Daffodil

 

This flower that shows us its trumpet is a Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). Its white tepals are nearly gone. Is it alone? 

 


 

Surely not, Daffodils mosty grow in large groups and here, on top of a cliff, everywhere on the forest floor you see its long green leaves.

 


 

Most Daffodil bulbs only produce leaves. Only after some years and in favorable circumstances they will carry flowers. Many of those bulbs will never flower. Daffodils grow from seed but also from small bulbs that develop on older plants. Thus, in tens or maybe even hundreds of years, they can cover a large surface.

 


 

Daffodils like humus and places with light shadow and not too dry soil. Here they grow high up a steep slope, out of reach from those who want to pick the flowers. In Dordogne, Daffodils are rare and they are so beautiful people like to get the bulbs for their garden, but here, they survive..

This group on the edge of the cliff risks to loos equilibrium and to fall down. Indeed, below some plants grow, even if they don't flower. Maybe the result of earlier falls.

 



 

The wild Daffodil is at the origin of many cultivars, sometime after hybridization with other Narcissus. But those plants here are really wild. They are smaller that garden Daffodils and yellow and white instead of yellow.

 


 

The microclimat makes a difference, in the place high up there are clearly more plants still flowering. More sun, less wind, more shade from the rocks?