File:Narcissus tazetta var chinensis1.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mostly spring perennial crops 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 by the cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The bouquets are usually white or yellow (orange or green in garden types), with either even or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in historic civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally referred to by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten sections with about 50 species. The true variety of species has assorted, depending on how they are categorized, scheduled to similarity between kinds 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 origin of the true name Narcissus is undiscovered, but it is often linked to a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the children of that name who fell in love with his own representation. The English term 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The species are local to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of diversity 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 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 century and by the past due 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mostly on holland. Narcissi are popular as slash blossoms so when ornamental plants in private and open public gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorised into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of their family, narcissi produce a 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 utilization in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in fine art and literature, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from fatality to fortune, and as icons of planting season. The daffodil is the nationwide blossom of Wales and the icon of tumor 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 back after flowering to an underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the next yr from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm depending on species. Dwarf varieties such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might increase as high as 80 cm.

The crops are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, thin, strap-shaped leaves occur from the light. The seed stem usually bears a solitary flower, but sometimes a cluster of plants (umbel). The flowers, which can be conspicuous and white or yellow usually, sometimes both or almost never green, contain 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 shaped corona. The blossoms may hang down (pendent), or be erect. You can find six pollen bearing stamens bordering a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berries includes a dried up capsule that splits (dehisces) launching numerous black seed products.

The bulb sits dormant following the leaves and flower stem die back and has contractile roots that yank it down further into the soil. The bloom leaves and stem form in the bulb, to emerge the next season. Most types are dormant from summertime to late winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few species are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus tazetta ssp. bertolonii, Angelo Porcelli

Narcissus tazetta Paperwhite

File:Narcissus tazetta 39;Canaliculatus39;01.jpg Wikipedia, the free

Description Starr 0512245773 Narcissus tazetta.jpg