Introduction
Has been a while since a post, too busy with work. Anyway … I thought I’d start with a surprise flower that I saw at the start of January of 2016. Individual, little yellow flowers were scattered across various fields where I was walking (looking for birds). After some searching on internet it turned out to be Narcissus bulbocodium, or Hoop-petticoat Daffodil as its common name.

Hoop-petticoat Daffodil
The Hoop-petticoal Daffodil sits in the Amaryllidacaea family and the Narcissus genus. Apparently there is a specific subspecies of N. bulbocodium in the area where I saw the flower, it is called ssp. citcirrus, but I am not sure what the exact characteristics of the subspecies are.

The flowers emerge early in the year and last till about March. The plants need wet soils, but well draining. This flower also grows from bulbs, usually not in big patches, but individual flowers here and there. I saw these in exactly the same field as the Crocus nudiflorus (see a previous post).

Spain is a hotbed for Narcissus and this particular species is found from southern France down through the Iberian peninsula. It can cross with N. asturiensis, but that plant is found at higher altitudes in the hills (usually around 800+ metres).
In N. bulbocodium the corona (trumpet, as it where) extends out quite a bit and the tepals are thin and spiky. One cannot really mistake the ID of this flower (though I did).

Further Reading
– A link to the Royal Horticultural Society’s page on this plant. More info and how to grow it in your garden.
– A PDF detailing the different Narcissus species in Spain (there are quite a few!). From the Flora Iberica publication, in Spanish, see page 26 for more info.
– A list of my sightings of this flower on Observation.org.