Nele amp; Andrew Around Oz: Narcissus Hut, Cradle MountainLake St Clair

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mostly spring perennial vegetation in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common titles including daffodil,[notes 1] daffadowndilly,[3] narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some known members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted with a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The bouquets are generally white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden types), with either even or contrasting colored tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in early civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten areas with around 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are classified, due to similarity between varieties and hybridization. The genus arose some right time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The exact origins of the true name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is often linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youngsters of this name who fell in love with his own representation. The English expression 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The species are local to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a middle of diversity in the Traditional western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were unveiled in to the Far East to the tenth century prior. Narcissi have a tendency to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are insect-pollinated also. Known pests, disorders and diseases include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, nematodes and mites. Some Narcissus species have become extinct, while some are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became increasingly popular in Europe following the 16th hundred years and by the later 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mainly on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as chop blooms as ornamental plants in private and open public gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are grouped into divisions, covering an array of shapes and colours. Like other members of their family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if ingested inadvertently. This property has been exploited for medicinal used in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and skill, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in different cultures, ranging from death to good fortune, and as symbols of springtime. The daffodil is the national blossom of Wales and the icon of cancer charities in many countries. The appearance of the outdoors flowers in spring is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying again after flowering to an underground storage bulb. They regrow in the following time from brown-skinned ovoid light bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm with regards to the species. Dwarf species such as N. asturiensis have a maximum level of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might develop as large as 80 cm.

The vegetation are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow bloom stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, thin, strap-shaped leaves come up from the light. The flower stem usually bears a solitary rose, but occasionally a cluster of plants (umbel). The blooms, that happen to be usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, both or rarely inexperienced sometimes, contain a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outside ring made up of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical formed corona. The flowers may suspend down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit includes a dry out capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb lays dormant following the leaves and blossom stem die back and has contractile roots that yank it down further into the soil. The flower stem and leaves form in the light bulb, to emerge the next season. Most kinds are dormant from summer season to overdue winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are fall flowering.

Narcissus Pictures