We were surprised to find how wrong the information is on the web regarding the difference between a Daffodil and Narcissus! They are not synonymous as many websites lead you to believe. The overall classification for these flowers is that they belong to the Narcissus Family. Within the narcissus family it is generally agreed that there are about 13 sub classifications, one of which is a Daffodil, another which is a Jonquil and so on.
Narcissus species are put in these groups based on the length of their cup (the middle part of the flower) versus their perianths (the outer petals). A Daffodil, for example, has a cup bigger than its outer leaves, which is why you may see them referred to as Trumpet Daffodils. This is because their cup sticks out like the shape of a trumpet. The difference between these terms is that these are all sub classifications of the Narcissus family.
According the RHS these are all the sub classifications:
- Trumpet Daffodil
- Large Cupped Narcissus
- Small cupped Narcissus
- Double Flower Narcissus
- Triandrus
- Cyclamineaus
- Jonquilla
- Tazetta
- Poeticus
- Bulbocodium
- Split-Corona (a.k.a. Butterfly)
- Miscellaneous
- Specialty and Wild Variants
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