Narcissus

Key to the sections
(following Blanchard 1990)

1. Anthers parallel to axis of petals ......................................... 2
    Anthers perpendicular to axis of petals ............................... Bulbocodium

2. Flowers autumnal, corona very short or absent ................... 3
    Flowers winter or spring .................................................... 5

3. Flowers yellow ................................................................. Tapeinanthus
    Flowers green .................................................................. 9
    Flowers white .................................................................. 4

4. Tube funnel shaped, leaves broad ..................................... Aurelia
    Tube cylindrical (or nearly), leaves narrow ........................ Serotini

5. Petals white, corona discoid or shortly cupular with margin red or scarious ......................... Narcissus
Petals white or yellow, corona cupular or longer ................................................................. 6

6. Corona as long or nearly as long as petals .......................................................................... Pseudonarcissus
    Corona markedly shorter than petals .................................................................................. 7

7. Stigma and 3 anthers exserted, petals sharply reflexed ........................................................ Ganymedes
    Stigma and anthers included in corona ................................................................................ 8

8. Scape compressed, leaves broad ....................................................................................... Tazettae
    Scape round, leaves narrow ............................................................................................... 9

9. Leaves green without keel, scape smooth, seeds matt black, wedge shaped without strophiole ............. Jonquillae
Leaves glaucous, 4 angled or with 2 keels, scape striate, seeds shiny black, spherical with strophiole ... Apodanthae

Sections Tapeinanthus, Serontini and Aurelia

Each of these sections contain only one species: the autumn flowering N. cavanillesii, N. sertoninus and N. broussonetii.

1. Petals yellow, tube very short (2 mm or less) .... N. cavanillesii
    Petals white, tube longer (12 mm or more) .......
    (a.) leaves filiform (about 1 mm diameter) usually absent on flowering bulbs, anthers included in tube ... N. sertoninus
    (b.) leaves broad (about 13 mm) usually present on flowering bulbs, anters exerted ............................ N. broussonetii

Section Tazettae

The following is a guide to species identification (from Blanchard 1990), rather than a key:

Petals yellow, corona ellow
     petals off white to pale yellow ............................................................ N. italicus
     petals bright to golden yellow, perianth more imbricate, leaves green ... N. aureus
     leaves glaucescent .............................................................................. N. bertolonii, N. cupularis

Petals white, corona coloured
    corona very short, incurved at the margin, green or greenish orange, especially on opening ... N. elegans
    corona cup shaped or expanded, yellow or orange
           plant large ................................................................................................................... N. tazetta, N. ochroleucus, N. cypri
           plant dwarfer .............................................................................................................. N. patulus

Petals white, corona white
    flowers very small (15-20mm diameter)
           height of cornona about half the length of the segments or more, scape compressed, leaves narrow and untwister ... N. dubius
           height of corona about half the length of the segments or less, leaves broadr and twisted, scape not compressed .... N. tortifolius
    flowers larger, corona shorter in proportion to length of segments, flowers 0-25 mm diameter
           segments much shorter than tube, leaves not very glaborous ...................................................................... N. pachybolbus, N. canariensis
           segmnts not much shorter than tube, leaves very glaborous ........................................................................ N. panizzianus, N. barlae
    flowers 25-40mm diameter or more
           leaves glaucous, scape compressed, corona usually crenulate ..................................................................... N. papyraceus
           leaves green, scape almost terete, corona usually entire .............................................................................. N. polyanthos

Section Narcissus

Series I. Poetici. Stamens unequal, perianth segments usually shortly narrowed and imbricate below
    Corona flat ......................................................................................... N. poeticus
    Corona more or less cupular
        dwarf and small-flowered ................................................................ N. verbanensis
        plant tall .......................................................................................... N. hellenicus
        the Pheasant-s Eye, large flowered .................................................. N. recurvus
        corona with a white zone below red margin ...................................... N. majalis

Series II. Radiiflor. Stamens subequal, perianth segments usually narrowed below.
    Corona small, cupular
         corona 2.5 mm deep, 8 mm broad ................................................. N. radiiflorus
         corona 2 mm deep, 10 mm broad .................................................. N. stellaris
    Corona flat or nearly so when mature
         corona wholly red .......................................................................... N. poetarum
         corona flat and discoid ................................................................... N. exertus

Section Jonquillae

"Jonquils in the wild are bewilderingly variable plants, and often seem to refuse to fit nearly into any system of classification. The availab keys rely much too strongly onmeasurements to distinguish one species from another, and anyone who has spent an hour or two measuring the variations within a single population of wild plants will know how much extremes can vary from the norm" (Blanchard 1990).

N. jonquilla
N. fernandesii (including N. cordobensis and N. marianicus)
N. assoanus (including N. baeticus)
N. gaditanus
N. willlkommii

Section Apodanthae

Flowers usually solitary
    Flowers yellow
        corona not bowl shaped, usually lobed or crenate, anthers all included in the tube .................................................... N. rupicola
        corona usually more bowl shaped and entire, anthers 3 exserted, 3 included in the tube ............................................ N. cuatrecassii
    Flowers white and whitish
        corona not bowl shaped, usually lobed or crenate, anthers all included in the tube ..................................................... N. rupicola ssp. watieri
        corona usually bowl shaped and entire, anthers 3 exserted, 3 included in tube ........................................................... N. atlanticus

Flowers yellow in umbels
leaves 4-angled, sometimes minutely scabrid, scape cylindrical or elliptic 6 ridged, corona tending to incurve at margin ... N. scaberulus
leaves canaliculate, not scabrid, scape subcompressed, corona not incurved .................................................................. N. calcicola

Section Ganymedes

N. triandrus var. triandrus
N. triandrus var. cerenus (syn. N. triandrus ssp. pallidulus)
N. triandrus var. concolor
N. triandrus var. loiseleurii (syn. N. triandrus ssp. capax)

Section Bulbocodium

N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. bulbocodium
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. nivalis
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. conspicuus
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. genuinus
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. ectandrum
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. serotinus
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. pallidus
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. citrinus
N. bulbocodium ssp. bulbocodium var. graelsii
N. bulbocodium ssp. praecox

N. obesus

N. cantabricus ssp. cantabricus var. cantabricus
N. cantabricus ssp. cantabricus var. foliosus
N. cantabricus ssp. cantabricus var. petunioides
N. cantabricus ssp. cantabricus var. kesticus
N. cantabricus ssp. tananicus
N. cantabricus ssp. monophyllus

N. romieuxii ssp. romieuxii var. romieuxii
N. romieuxii ssp. romieuxii var. mesatlanticus
N. romieuxii ssp. romieuxii var. rifanus
N. romieuxii ssp. albidus
N. romieuxii ssp. romieuxii var. zaianicus

N. hedraeanthus

Section Pseudonarcissus

Flowers usually in umbels of 2-4
Flowers usually ellow, corona slightly expanded at margin .................................................................................. N. longispathus
Flowers bicoloured, corona not expanded at margin .......................................................................................... N. nevadensis

Flowers solitary
    Flowers yellow, with corona concolorous or deeper than petals
        Flowers small
            Plant very dwarf, corona inflated below and constricted about the middle .......................................................... N. asturiensis
            Plant dwarf, narrow leaves, corona not constricted ........................................................................................... N. minor, N. provincialis
            Plant larger, broader leaves, narrow petals, corona not constricted, spreading at margin and distinctly lobed ...... N. pumilus
            Plant similar but with imbricate petals, corona little spreading and only obscurely lobed, broad erect leaves ........ N. nanus
            Leaves green, stem round, tube very short, petals sharply reflexed .................................................................... N. cyclamineus
            Plant slender, leaves much shorter than stem, petals narrow, corona funnel shaped, not expanded at margin ....... N. portensis
        Flowers larger, with pedicel not deflexed
             Plant tall, bluish glaucous twisted leaves, large flower, twisted petals, widely expanded corona deeply crenate ............ N. hispanicus
            Plant less tall, leaves untwisted, tube rather short, imbricate untwisted petals, less expanded and less crenate corona ... N. obvallaris
            Plant robust, more or less twisted petals, tube broader, corona rather broad, obscurely spreading and lobed .............. N. confusus
            Leaves and stems very short, leaves bluish untwisted, flower comparatively large, petals often twisted, corona
                narrow and little expanded at margin ...................................................................................... N. pseudonarcissus ssp. eugeniae

Flowers yellow, straw coloured or bicoloured, and of moderate size, pedicel short and deflexed, tube tinged green or soft yellow
            Flowers yellow or bicoloured, tube long, corona rarely expanded or lobed ............................................................... N. pseudonarcissus
            Flowers straw coloured, tube long, corona usually expanded and distinctly lobed ...................................................... N. pallidiflorus
            Flowers straw coloured or bicoloured, tube shorter, corona broad, expanded and. distinctly lobed ........................... N. macrolobus

Flowers bicoloured
            Flowers large, tube long, bright yellow like the corona, corona widely spreading, deeply crenate or lobed ................. N. nobilis
            Flowers moderate to large, tube short, corona somewhat expanded and obscurely lobed ......................................... N. bicolor
            Flowers similar but petals narrower and very pale yellow, corona deeper yellow, cylindrical, obscurely lobed ........... N. abscissus
            Flowers small, tube short, paler yellow than corona, corona not spreading ............................................................... N. parviflorus

Flowers white or whitish
            Plant small, flowers white, drooping corona straight ................................................................................................N. alpestris
            Plant larger, less drooping, sulphur white, corona somewhat expanded ................................................................... N. tortuosus
            Flowers longer, horizontal, pale sulphur fading to nearly white, corona expanded and lobed .................................... N. albescens
            Flowers similar but rather drooping, corona less expanded and slightly lobed .......................................................... N. moschatus

References

Blanchard, J.W. 1990. Narcissus: A Guide to Wild Daffodils. Alpine Garden Society.