Parts of a Daffodil – Labeled Flower and Bulb Diagram

All 16 parts on the diagram

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The whole plant 9

Corona The cup or trumpet in the middle of the flower. On some daffodils it is long like a trumpet and on others short like a cup.
Petals (tepals) A daffodil has six. Botanists call them tepals, because the petals and the sepals look the same.
Spathe The spathe wrapped the flower bud. It split as the bud grew, and it stays at the back of the open flower.
Scape A leafless flower stalk that grows straight from the bulb.
Leaves Long and narrow. They grow up from the bulb.
Bulb The bulb stores food. The next year's leaves and flower form inside it.
Tunic The tunic is a thin papery covering. It protects the layers of the bulb underneath.
Basal plate The basal plate is the bottom of the bulb. The roots grow from it.
Roots The roots grow down from the basal plate into the soil.

The flower cut open 7

Floral tube The floral tube sits on top of the ovary. The petals and the corona spread out from its far end.
Ovary In a daffodil the ovary sits below the petals. Botanists call that an inferior ovary.
Ovules Each ovule can grow into a seed once it has been fertilized.
Style Runs from the ovary out through the corona. It carries the stigma at its tip.
Stigma Pollen has to reach the stigma for seeds to form. A daffodil stigma has three tiny lobes.
Filament Each is fixed inside the floral tube and holds an anther up.
Anther Pollen is made in the anthers. A daffodil has six stamens; the cut flower shows three of them.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against sources read that day. (1) Wikipedia, Narcissus (plant), text only: six tepals, corona, floral tube above an inferior ovary, six stamens with filaments fixed at the tube, thread-like style and three-lobed stigma, ovules, papery spathe that stays round the base of the open flower, leafless scape, strap-shaped leaves, bulb with a tunic and a basal plate that bears the roots. (2) Native Plant Trust, Go Botany, Narcissus pseudonarcissus, https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/narcissus/pseudonarcissus/: corona, six tepals, perianth fused into a tube, spathe, ovary below the petals, anthers and filaments, six stamens, one style. (3) North Carolina State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Narcissus, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/narcissus/: six petal-like parts and a corona, papery bract at the back, naked flower stem, leaves, bulb, and that the plant is poisonous with the bulb the most poisonous part. (4) University of Illinois Extension, Bulbs, https://extension.illinois.edu/bulbs/daffodils: basal plate, scales and tunic of a true bulb, with daffodils named as tunicate bulbs. (5) OpenStax Biology 2e, 32.1 and 32.2: anther and filament, stigma, style and ovary, ovules, inferior ovary, pollen carried to the stigma. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

The top drawing is a whole daffodil: the bulb and roots under the soil, the leaves, and one flower on its leafless stalk. The bottom drawing is the parts of a daffodil flower, cut lengthways from stalk to trumpet.

Read the full guide

The plant first, then inside the flower

Numbers 1 to 3 are on the flower: the corona, the petals and the papery spathe behind them. Numbers 4 and 5 are the scape and the leaves. Numbers 6 to 9 are under the soil: the bulb, its tunic, the basal plate and the roots. Numbers 10 to 16 are inside the cut flower, from the ovary at the back to the stigma and the anthers in the trumpet.

Look where the ovary is: below the petals, not inside them. That makes it an inferior ovary.
Do not taste any part of a daffodil. The plant is poisonous if eaten, the bulb most of all.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a daffodil flower?

Six petals, called tepals, round a trumpet called the corona. Behind them are the floral tube and the ovary. Inside are six stamens, each a filament with an anther, and one style ending in the stigma. A papery spathe sits at the back.

What is the trumpet of a daffodil called?

The corona. It stands up from the middle of the ring of petals and can be a long trumpet or a short cup, depending on the kind of daffodil.

What is the papery brown part behind a daffodil flower?

The spathe. It is a thin, dry sheath that covered the flower bud. It splits open as the bud grows and stays wrapped round the base of the open flower.

Does a daffodil have petals or tepals?

Both words are used. The six flat parts look like petals, but a daffodil's petals and sepals look the same, so botanists call all six tepals.