Florula gaditana: Narcissus x alleniae

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common titles 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 by way of a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The plants are generally white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden varieties), with either even or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally considered to have about ten areas with about 50 species. The true amount of varieties has mixed, depending about how they are labeled, due to similarity between species and hybridization. The genus arose time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unfamiliar, but it is linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the young ones of this name who fell in love with his own representation. The English term 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The types are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of variety in the Traditional western Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced in to the Far East prior to the tenth century. Narcissi tend 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 earliest times, but became increasingly popular in Europe following the 16th century and by the late 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mainly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as chop bouquets as ornamental vegetation in private and general population gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering an array of colours and shapes. Like other members with their family, narcissi produce a true number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if ingested accidentally. This property has been exploited for medicinal use within traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and art, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in different cultures, ranging from fatality to fortune, and as icons of spring. The daffodil is the countrywide blossom of Wales and the mark of tumor charities in many countries. The looks of the crazy flowers in spring and coil is associated with celebrations in many places.

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

The crops are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, small, strap-shaped leaves come up from the light. The flower stem usually bears a solitary rose, but once in a while a cluster of blooms (umbel). The blossoms, which 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 exterior ring made up of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The blossoms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is poor (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit includes a dried up capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb is situated dormant after the leaves and blossom stem die back again and has contractile roots that take it down further in to the soil. The flower stem and leaves form in the light bulb, to emerge the next season. Most varieties are dormant from warmer summer months to later winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few species are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Bulbs, Beds and Fall on Pinterest

mixed fragrant narcissus by Erin Benzakein / Floret Flower Farm, via

Daffodil+Latin+Name Narcissus pseudonarcissus daffodil Plants

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