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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 known members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted with a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The blooms are usually white or yellowish (orange or green in garden varieties), with either standard or contrasting coloured corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in old civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally defined by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally considered to have about ten areas with about 50 species. The amount of species has mixed, depending about how they are classified, due to similarity between types 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 precise source of the name Narcissus is undiscovered, but it is associated with a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the young ones of that name who fell in love with his own representation. The English phrase 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly likened.

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

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became increasingly popular in Europe following the 16th century and by the later 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as slash plants so when ornamental plants in private and public gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to 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 create a true 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 treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and art work, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in several cultures, ranging from death to good fortune, and as icons of planting season. The daffodil is the nationwide blossom of Wales and the mark of tumors charities in many countries. The appearance of the wild flowers in spring is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering for an underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the following yr from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm depending on the species. Dwarf types such as N. asturiensis have a maximum elevation of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might increase as tall as 80 cm.

The plants are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow bloom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, slim, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The place stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but once in a while a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The plants, that happen to be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, sometimes both or hardly ever renewable, contain a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an exterior ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical molded corona. The bouquets may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens encompassing a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The fruits consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb is dormant after the leaves and flower stem die back again and has contractile root base that yank it down further in to the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the light, to emerge the next season. Most species are dormant from warmer summer months to past due winter, flowering in the planting season, though a few kinds are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

narcissus hedraeanthus Photos by John Lonsdale

Нарцисс narcissus Семейство амариллисовые

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Plants Profile for Narcissus daffodil