The French daffodil’s beauty and scent almost led to its extinction on the Maltese islands.The French daffodil’s beauty and scent almost led to its extinction on the Maltese islands.

The French daffodil is found in most Mediterranean and southern European countries and its range extends to the Far East. It is often found in the Maltese countryside too, especially in valleys, clay slopes and sometimes in garigue. It flowers from November to late December and remains in flower until March.

The French daffodil has many names including cream narcissus. Its scientific name is Narcissus tazetta. In Maltese it is known as narċis.

Its flowers are beautiful. They have the typical cup and saucer shape of daffodils but what is most striking is their scent. To smell a single flower you need to go on your knees but if you find a large number of plants in flower you can smell their incredibly pleasant fragrance even from a couple of paces away. However, the attractive flowers and their scent nearly brought about this species’ extinction locally.

Until a couple of decades ago, children used to sell large bunches of them along country roads. This led to a decline in their numbers as the plants were unable to regenerate from seeds. The French daffodil lived from one year to the next thanks to its underground tubers which eventually died.

Legislation protecting this plant and greater awareness about the need to conserve our flora helped saved this species from becoming extinct or very rare as happened to other plants, such as the pheasant’s eye.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a beautiful young hunter who fell in love with his reflection in a pool. His love was so deep that he spent most of his time staring at his reflection until he died of thirst and hunger. This story gave rise to the term ‘narcissism’.

portelli.paul@gmail.com

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