Daffodil: Book Review

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

Narcissus were well known in early civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally thought to have about ten portions with approximately 50 species. The true amount of types has assorted, depending on how they are categorised, a consequence of to similarity between hybridization and kinds. The genus arose some right amount of time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The precise origins of the name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is linked to a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youngsters of this name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English phrase 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The species are local to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of diversity in the European Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into the Far East before the tenth century. 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 others are threatened by increasing tourism and urbanisation.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became ever more popular in Europe following the 16th century and by the late 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred primarily on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as cut flowers so when ornamental plant life in private and general population gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering a variety of shapes and colours. Like other members with their family, narcissi create a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if accidentally ingested. This property has been exploited for medicinal use in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and art work, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in different cultures, ranging from fatality to good fortune, and as icons of springtime. The daffodil is the nationwide bloom of Wales and the symbol of cancer charities in many countries. The appearance of the wild flowers in springtime is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back again after flowering to an underground storage light. They regrow in the following calendar year from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm depending on species. Dwarf species such as N. asturiensis have a maximum elevation of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may grow as tall as 80 cm.

The vegetation are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The herb stem bears a solitary blossom, but occasionally a cluster of plants (umbel). The blooms, that are conspicuous and white or yellowish usually, sometimes both or almost never renewable, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outer ring made up of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical formed corona. The flowers may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. You will discover six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berries includes a dried out capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb is placed dormant after the leaves and flower stem die again and has contractile roots that draw it down further in to the soil. The rose leaves and stem form in the light bulb, to emerge the next season. Most species are dormant from warmer summer months to late winter, flowering in the planting season, though a few types are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Black Narcissus screenwriters directors, Rumer Godden, novel, Jean

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Pacific Essences

Tipu found this crossword in his copy of thebook of Black Narcissus