File:Narcissus pseudonarcissus 030405.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names including daffodil,[notes 1] daffadowndilly,[3] narcissus, and jonquil are 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 flowers are generally white or yellowish (orange or red in garden varieties), with either even or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in old civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally identified by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten portions with around 50 species. The true quantity of kinds has varied, depending how they are classified, due to similarity between hybridization and species. The genus arose time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is often linked to a Greek phrase for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English expression 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The types are local to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a centre of variety in the Traditional western 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 tend to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are insect-pollinated also. Known pests, diseases and disorders include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, mites and nematodes. Some Narcissus species have grown to be extinct, while others are threatened by increasing tourism and urbanisation.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became ever more popular in Europe after the 16th hundred years and by the late 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on holland. Today narcissi are popular as slash plants so that as ornamental plants in private and general public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are grouped into divisions, covering an array of colours and shapes. Like other members of the family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if ingested unintentionally. 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 art and books, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from loss of life to fortune, and as symbols of planting season. The daffodil is the countrywide rose of Wales and the mark of tumor charities in many countries. The appearance of the untamed 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 the underground storage bulb. They regrow in the following 12 months from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm with regards to the species. Dwarf kinds such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might expand as extra tall as 80 cm.

The vegetation are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves occur from the bulb. The plant stem bears a solitary blossom, but sometimes a cluster of blooms (umbel). The plants, which are usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, sometimes both or rarely green, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an outside ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disk to conical formed corona. The blossoms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens encompassing a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit contains a dried capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seed products.

The bulb sits dormant following the leaves and rose stem die again and has contractile roots that pull it down further in to the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the bulb, to emerge the next season. Most species are dormant from warmer summer months to late winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus pseudonarcissus subsp. pseudonarcissus

Narcissus pseudonarcissus

File:Narcissus pseudonarcissus flower – side.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Narcissus pseudonarcissus „Trepolo” daffodil Plants amp; Flowers