Narcissus papyraceus - Paperwhite narcissus - (Amaryllidaceae)

Narcissus papyraceus

Paperwhite narcissus is a member of the Daffodil family (Amaryllidaceae) and is another gorgeous wildflower to be found in the Iberian Peninsula as well as in North West Africa and eastwards towards the Balkans. It reminds us of spring gardens in England, but these plants flower in December, January and February when the temperatures are at their lowest in the Mediterranean and are long gone before our daffodils appear in the UK and other parts of Northern Europe.

The paperwhite narcissus blooms early in the Mediterranean: by February the flowers line river banks while the rivers still exist, prior to being reduced to trickles or disappearing altogther in the high summer temperatures. Regrettably the flowers are too often picked to be taken home and placed in vases, where they reward their plunderers by emitting an extremely unpleasant odour! They are best left to decorate the countryside rather than holiday villas.

This specimen was photographed in the Algarve in Portugal in March.