On finding out Echo’s treachery Juno cursed Echo by removing her

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial crops in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names 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 by way of a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The blooms are usually white or yellow (orange or red in garden types), with either uniform or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in early civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally identified by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten areas with about 50 species. The number of kinds has mixed, depending how they are categorised, thanks to similarity between hybridization and species. 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 precise origin of the name Narcissus is undiscovered, but it is linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the children of that name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English word 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The species are native to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a centre of diversity in the European 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 also insect-pollinated. Known pests, diseases and disorders 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 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 holland. Today narcissi are popular as chop blooms and as ornamental plants 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 classified into divisions, covering a variety of shapes and colours. Like other members of the family, narcissi create 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 used in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in art work and books, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from loss of life to good fortune, and as icons of springtime. The daffodil is the nationwide bloom of Wales and the sign of tumor charities in many countries. The appearance of the outdoors flowers in springtime 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. They regrow in the next time from brown-skinned ovoid light bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm depending on species. Dwarf types such as N. asturiensis have a maximum elevation of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might grow as high as 80 cm.

The vegetation are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, small, strap-shaped leaves come up from the light bulb. The plant stem usually bears a solitary flower, but once in a while a cluster of plants (umbel). The bouquets, that happen to be usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, sometimes both or seldom inexperienced, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an external ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical designed corona. The plants may hang down (pendent), or be erect. You can find six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is second-rate (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb lays dormant following the leaves and rose stem die back again and has contractile root base that move it down further in to the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the light bulb, to emerge the following season. Most species are dormant from summer months to past due winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few types are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

external image 090319echonarcissus.jpg

Of Mirrors and myth… The Wit Continuum

and the tale of the beautiful Narcissus. He ignored the lovely nymph

Narcissus, son of the Boeotian river god Cephisus and the nymph