Daff debate

[mrsp]

I was listening to someone on the radio (alas I do not know who he was) saying that 'non native daffodils' are invading the countryside and should be destroyed as they are a danger to other plants.I have always rather liked the daffs that grow on my farmland,I don't know how they got there and they've been there for years and years but as they are big and blousey I presume they are the cultivated type(?)
This chap has made me feel rather guilty,confessing to having non-native daffs. on my land is a bit like admitting to smoking! Should I remove them and how can I really tell if they are native or not?

[Rambling Rob]

Hi,

Here are some native wild daffodils growing on the Isle of Wight.





I imagine the daffs bring a nice splash of spring colour to your farm - I can't see the point in digging them out unless they are spreading into adjoining uncultivated countryside. Farmed land isn't the natural habitat of the wild daff - that would be ancient woodland.

All the best,
Rob

[davidbr]

In my opinion, your radio caller was talking out of the same part of his anatomy that I'm currently sitting on whilst writing this.

I'm not especially a fan of the modern daffodil cultivars mass-planted in gardens, parks, roadsides etc (not least because they're a real sod to ID when they're chucked out ) but they're certainly no danger to any native species. For a start, the vast majority are sterile hybrids; hence they can't spread by seed nor cross with any native plant. When you see them in odd places, they're merely the result of people dumping their rubbish in odd places

But this, of course, leads into a wider argument; about the place of (so-called) "foreign plants" in our countryside. For as long as humans have existed on this island, we've been messing about with its environment, and for as long as we've been moving about, we've brought plants into new areas. Accidentally with our food-corn, or deliberately to brighten up our homes a bit, it's meant there's barely any such thing as a truly native British plant; it's even doubtful whether the so-called "Wild Daffodil" (Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus) is any such thing. I was at a place called North Meadow, near Cricklade in Gloucestershire, enjoying a field of Snake's-head Fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) yesterday; beautiful, yes, but I'll take a lot of convincing they're any less introduced than the colony near to me at Frenchay Hospital nature reserve. It just happened a bit longer ago, that's all

Yes, some introductions can be invasive; but when we talk about Rhododendrons or Japanese Knotweed forming colonies in scrub or alongside streams, we're basically talking about an alien plant exploting an alien habitat - if it wasn't for human intervention, neither would be there. Some native species do just the same - brambles and bracken, for instance - and, by all means, control them where necessary, but talk of eradication is just ridiculous.

The vast, vast majority of introduced plants will never be any more than rare curiosities brightening up a day's botanising. In odd locations, they thrive, but they sure aren't going to out-compete something that has evolved to deal with a climate they've merely been thrown into by us. The Tuberous Corydalis at Ston Easton, Somerset, dominates the ground flora of one particular wood - yet it is, and will always remain, a major rarity nationally. My advice is, leave your daffodils well alone

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Rambling Rob

Hi,

Here are some native wild daffodils growing on the Isle of Wight.





All the best,
Rob

And I'm seriously not convinced these are Wild Daffodils, ssp. pseudonarcissus. The tepals look far too white to me.

I'd say they're more likely to be Narcissus nobilis (or Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. nobilis, depending on which source you use...), a native of Northern Spain. We've got a well-established colony at Frenchay in Bristol.

[pressld2]

His name is Dr Andrew Tasker and he was on BBC Radio 4's You & Yours yesterday and today. He has set up a website: I Hate Daffodils, although he did explain on the radio that he doesn't really hate daffodils but that
ihatecultivateddaffodilsgrowinginthebritishcountry sideinsteadofinyourgardenwheretheybelong.org was just a bit too long for a good url!

Personally I tend to agree with his point that planting garden flowers in the countryside is like putting lipstick on the Mona Lisa. If you hurry you can still listen to yesterday's programme on iPlayer at BBC iPlayer - You and Yours: 13/04/2010. There's no index for the programme but the daffodils section begins at 31:12. I think that Kerry Thomas, the editor of Gardening Which, completely missed the point and kept banging on about "how lovely they look". Yes, in the right setting they do look very beautiful, but the British countryside is not the right setting.

A Google search turned up a piece in the Daily Mail too - I hate daffodils... says the wild flower lover launching a one-man campaign to rid the countryside of mass-produced bulbs that ¿look like lipstick on the Mona Lisa¿ | Mail Online.

A big majority of correspondents with You & Yours supported Dr Tasker's campaign. He's a former chief executive of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust which suggests he's not completely clueless!

Dave P.

[Rambling Rob]

Originally Posted by davidbr

And I'm seriously not convinced these are Wild Daffodils, ssp. pseudonarcissus. The tepals look far too white to me.

I'd say they're more likely to be Narcissus nobilis (or Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. nobilis, depending on which source you use...), a native of Northern Spain. We've got a well-established colony at Frenchay in Bristol.

According to The Isle of Wight Flora (Pope, Snow and Allen, 2003) they are wild daffodils N. pseudonarcissus, and the flora includes a photograph of very same daffs in very same copse.

Strong sunlight and especially backlighting play havoc with subtle shades.

All the best,
Rob

[aeshna5]

Originally Posted by Rambling Rob

According to The Isle of Wight Flora (Pope, Snow and Allen, 2003) they are wild daffodils N. pseudonarcissus, and the flora includes a photograph of very same daffs in very same copse.

Strong sunlight and especially backlighting play havoc with subtle shades.

All the best,
Rob

They look good to me for the native species!

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by Rambling Rob

According to The Isle of Wight Flora (Pope, Snow and Allen, 2003) they are wild daffodils N. pseudonarcissus, and the flora includes a photograph of very same daffs in very same copse.

Strong sunlight and especially backlighting play havoc with subtle shades.

All the best,
Rob

Ah, that may well explain it

[IanS]

Originally Posted by pressld2

His name is Dr Andrew Tasker and he was on BBC Radio 4's You & Yours yesterday and today. He has set up a website: I Hate Daffodils, although he did

Thanks for the link to this site. He doesnt like 'em does he!

[ihatedaffodils]

Hi,
Well they are alright in your garden, and in flower beds, just not planted all over the countryside. And I've posted some of the photos sent in by supporters on the map page of the website:
I Hate Daffodils

When it gets to planting garden daffs in ancient woodlands, I just think it is about time someone said 'no'. So I did! Inflamed a few people, mainly cos they didn't really understand what i was saying. Apart from the Radio 2 gardening boy who needs to get back in his garden...

Hey ho, please send comments and photos to the website!

Best wishes

Andy