The daffodil has been cultivated for thousands of years by some of the earliest civilizations, usually for medicinal and religious rather than ornamental purposes. They were brought to Britain by the Romans who thought that the sap from daffodils had healing powers. In the 19th-century, daffodil breeding took flight, first in England and Scotland, then to Ireland, the Netherlands, the United States, New Zealand, and southern Australia. Today, many of the daffodils for sale are bred in the Netherlands and imported.
Due to their popularity as cultivated plants, there are now 32,000 registered cultivars around the globe, but only about 10 percent are available commercially.