The Overland Track: Day Seven: To Narcissus Hut and Lake S… Flickr

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 being used to describe all or some known 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 yellowish (orange or red in garden kinds), with either uniform or contrasting coloured corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally defined by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten portions with about 50 species. The true amount of types has assorted, depending about how they are classified, anticipated to similarity between varieties and hybridization. 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 true name Narcissus is undiscovered, but it is linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the youngsters of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English word 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The types are native to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of variety in the American Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were released in to the Far East to the tenth hundred years prior. 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, mites and nematodes. 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 hundred years and by the late 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as slice plants so when ornamental crops in private and public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorised into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of these family, narcissi produce 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 utilization in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and fine art, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in different cultures, ranging from fatality to fortune, and as icons of planting season. The daffodil is the nationwide bloom of Wales and the icon of tumors charities in many countries. The appearance of the crazy flowers in spring and coil is associated with festivals in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying again after flowering to the underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the next 12 months from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm depending on the species. Dwarf kinds such as N. asturiensis have a maximum level of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might expand as high as 80 cm.

The crops are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow bloom stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves happen from the light bulb. The vegetable stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but sometimes a cluster of flowers (umbel). The flowers, which can be conspicuous and white or yellow usually, sometimes both or seldom inexperienced, 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 disc to conical molded corona. The blossoms may hang down (pendent), or be erect. You will find six pollen bearing stamens bordering a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruits consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

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

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus River feeding Narcissus Bay and Lake St Clair, Mount Olympus

Narcissus Jetty Lake St Clair Picture of Cradle Mountain Huts

Narcissus pseudonarcissus var. 39;Gerardes Double English Daffodil39; sy

Narcissus pseudonarcissus , the quot;daffodilquot; native to the Lake District