File:West, Benjamin Narcissus and Echo 1805.jpg

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly 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 yellowish (orange or red in garden types), with either even or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in historical civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally defined by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally considered to have about ten portions with approximately 50 species. The true range of types has assorted, depending about how they are categorized, scheduled to similarity between types and hybridization. The genus arose some right amount of time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The exact source of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is linked to a Greek phrase for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the children of that name who fell in love with his own representation. The English word 'daffodil' appears to be derived from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The varieties are local to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a middle of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were presented in to the Far East to the tenth century prior. 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 urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became increasingly popular in Europe following the 16th hundred years and by the past due 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on holland. Today narcissi are popular as cut plants and as ornamental plant life in private and open 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 an array of shapes and colours. Like other members of the family, narcissi create 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 resulted in the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and art, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from death to good fortune, and as icons of springtime. The daffodil is the countrywide rose of Wales and the icon of tumors charities in many countries. The looks of the wild flowers in springtime is associated with festivals in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back again after flowering to a underground storage light. They regrow in the next year from brown-skinned ovoid light bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm with regards to the species. Dwarf varieties such as N. asturiensis have a maximum elevation of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may develop as tall as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, slim, strap-shaped leaves come up from the light. The plant stem bears a solitary blossom, but once in a while a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The flowers, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, both or almost never inexperienced sometimes, 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 molded corona. The blossoms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. You can find six pollen bearing stamens encompassing a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit includes a dry out capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb lies dormant after the leaves and flower stem die back and has contractile root base 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 planting season, though a few species are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

BBC Your Paintings Echo and Narcissus

Lauren M Bordes Brooklyn Arts Council

Narcissus and Echo Jildy Sauce

Detail from Echo and Narcissus by John Waterhouse