A few years ago John Hunter posted on Daffnet some comments about gold and silver dusted perianths.
https://daffnet.org/gold-and-silver-dusted-perianths/
He referred to a short article in The Daffodil Journal Vol. 48 #4, June 2012 p.308 about what causes diamond dusting, which in turn was based on a Daffnet discussion.
Across these conversations Brian Duncan conjectured that it is physical and has something to do with the cellular make-up and this was supported by Harold Koopowitz.
John Hunter commented that the effect probably comes from poeticus and that it is easy to find in 3W-W’s but much less so in div. 1,2. He identified Sea Dream 3W-W as example and named Marksman as the best example in 2Y-O.
A couple of years ago I posted a picture of a 2W-W that had diamond dusting in the trumpet.
https://daffnet.org/diamond-dusting-green/
Earlier this year I posted a striking bulbocodium including pictures of its microscopic cell structure.
https://daffnet.org/winter-bulbocodiums/
This supports Brian’s and Harold’s view of diamond dusting. It suggests that an undulating cell structure can scatter sunlight in the way rippling water does. As a matter of interest the trumpet of 13_125 2W-W was put under the microscope. While nowhere near as dramatic as the bulbocodium 15_15VB there are hints of the same feature.
The 2W-W is proving to be consistent in this characteristic and another yellow trumpet has been identified.
I can see no particular source of this effect in the yellow trumpets. The parents of the the 2W-W, Dayton Lake and Melissa Ann both have the characteristic to a slight extent.
Other whites include Silver Kiwi and a flower that I’m sure is Gough. Gough, bred from Ross Glover’s Mission (Easter Moon x Lady Slim) hints that these flowers might be useful parents.
I have just obtained Jackson’s Ingenue and it is quite striking. Hopefully fertile sparkling 6W-W’s and 6W-P’s are not too far down the track.
Other pinks include Hopetoun, Brooke Ager and Brian’s Favorite.
Very Interesting Lawrence.