Description
(syn. Narcissus flavus, N. jonquilla cerrolazae))
This is one of the green-leaved, jonquil-section species. It makes tough, tubular leaves and a spike of 1-4 flowers which usually have a curved tube, but this is not invariable. It is found only in a limited area around Montecorto, close to Ronda in S. Spain and it is one of the larger flowered species found there and is said to form yellow swathes in some places.
It is probably a new name to many and it remains a much confused plant. It was originally introduced into horticulture and propagated widely under the name N. cordubensis. In fact it had been misidentified on introduction, the name cordubensis is a valid one also, however it has been misapplied to Narcissus cerrolazae. For once this was not botanists keeping themselves in a job by switching names about, it was gardeners getting it wrong. I include myself in this category, my defence being that the original error has only been realised in recent years. Looking back at our pictures, it is clear that over the past 30 years, we have, at different times, offered both true cordubensis (with a corona which is entire) as well as the plant of horticulture; cerrolazae (with a cleft corona, which is very clearly visible in our pictures here).
If you look at the corona (the trumpet) of N. cerrolazae, it is divided into 6 distinct lobes, the edges of the lobes can be serrated in some plants or waved in others, but the species does usually have this cleft corona, which is always lacking in N. cordubensis. With further close observation here it has become evident that you may need to look at several flowers to spot the cleft corona. Whilst it is never found in cordubensis it is not always present in every flower of N. cerrolazae. We have had spikes here in which some flowers have cleft coronas and others have virtually entire ones.
Readily grown and a superb, floriferous plant, regardless of its name or identity. It is happy in the open garden, in a fertile, well-drained soil in full sun, or a bulb frame, or an alpine house in a pot or pan, where you can enjoy its glowing, golden flowers in close proximity. Ours fill the glasshouse with scent for weeks on end..
