Narcissus in Chains Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series 10

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mostly spring perennial crops 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 known members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted with a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are usually white or yellow (orange or pink in garden varieties), with either standard or contrasting colored tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in historic civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten areas with around 50 species. The amount of kinds has assorted, depending about how they are grouped, due to similarity between varieties and hybridization. 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 exact origin of the true name Narcissus is anonymous, but it is often linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the junior of that name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English term 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly likened.

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

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became increasingly popular in Europe after the 16th hundred years and by the late 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred generally on holland. Today narcissi are popular as lower flowers so that as ornamental crops in private and public gardens. The long history of breeding has led to a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are grouped into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of the family, narcissi produce a true 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 use within traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and artwork, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from loss of life to good fortune, and as icons of spring. The daffodil is the national flower of Wales and the image of malignancy charities in many countries. The appearance of the outrageous flowers in planting season is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The crops are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves occur from the bulb. The herb stem usually bears a solitary rose, but once in a while a cluster of blooms (umbel). The blooms, which are conspicuous and white or yellow usually, sometimes both or rarely green, contain a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an external ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The blooms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. You can find six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is second-rate (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The berry consists of a dried capsule that splits (dehisces) launching numerous black seeds.

The bulb is placed dormant following the leaves and flower stem die back and has contractile root base that yank it down further in to the soil. The rose leaves and stem form in the light, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from warmer summer months to later winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few types are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

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in a rustic wooden basket with bead chain over white background

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI: December 2012