A living specimen of this plant has been used to generate the first entire chloroplast DNA sequence for Narcissus.
Historians believe that the poeticus may have been the species mentioned in ‘Historia Plantarum’ which was written by Theophrastus, the ancient Greek naturalist (371 – 287 BCE). This heavily scented daffodil is grown in large numbers by the fragrance industry as its essential oil is one of the main ingredients in many modern perfumes.
The type species of the genus Narcissus, Narcissus poeticus has large white tepals (petals) around a flattish corona (trumpet) that is typically rimmed with red. This red ring occurs only in this species in wild daffodils and has been found to contain high levels of carotenoids, the organic pigment responsible for colours in the yellow to red range.
While daffodils usually have white or yellow flowers in the wild, in cultivation they can have more colours including pinks and reds. These pink and red coloured daffodils all originated from that single red ring in the pheasant's eye daffodil through painstaking breeding over centuries.