This distinctive narrow trumpeted, intensely golden miniature daffodil, native to Northern Spain, was once described as ‘an absurdity that would never be found to exist.’ by the 19th century hybridisation expert, Rev. William Herbert. One of many Narcissi species to capture the interest of the ‘Daffodil King’ Peter Barr (1826–1909), this specimen came from bulbs supplied by his company Barr & Sons, King Street, London.
In 1629 John Parkinson depicted the flower alongside another 93 varieties of Narcissi that were in cultivation in Britain at that time. Centuries later Parkinson’s ‘Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris’ book became a source for the ‘Daffodil King’ as he attempted to list every known species of Narcissi in Britain and Europe and to seek all of those from Parkinson’s list that were no longer in cultivation. Barr contacted botanists and breeders all over Europe, and was delighted when the Anglo-Portuguese botanist A.W. Tait was able to provide him with a handful of N.cyclamineus bulbs. The subsequent plants would later win a First-Class Certificate at the RHS show in February 1887. The Paradisi engravings also acted as comparative identification aids as Barr journeyed across Europe, enabling him to confirm the species of the almost 3,000 bulbs he found during five months of collecting. He would later advertise these in his nursery catalogue as a ‘novelty flower reintroduced into cultivation after a lapse of 200-300 years.’