Narcissus tazetta, Angelo Porcelli

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common labels 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 plants are usually white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden types), with either even or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in traditional civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten parts with approximately 50 species. The amount of species has assorted, depending how they are categorised, due to similarity between hybridization and species. The genus arose some right time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origins of the name Narcissus is unfamiliar, but it is associated with a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the junior of this name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English phrase 'daffodil' appears to be derived from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The types are local to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a center of diversity in the American Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced in to the Far East prior to the tenth century. Narcissi have a tendency to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are also insect-pollinated. Known pests, disorders and diseases include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, mites and nematodes. 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 following the 16th century and by the overdue 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mostly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as cut blossoms so that ornamental plant life in private and open public gardens. The long history of breeding has led to thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified 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 inadvertently. This property has been exploited for medicinal use in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in skill and literature, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from loss of life to good fortune, and as symbols of planting season. The daffodil is the nationwide flower of Wales and the mark of cancers charities in many countries. The looks of the crazy flowers in spring is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The plants are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves come up from the bulb. The flower stem usually bears a solitary rose, but sometimes a cluster of flowers (umbel). The blooms, that happen to be conspicuous and white or yellow usually, both or hardly ever green 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 disk to conical molded corona. The blossoms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is second-rate (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruits includes a dried up capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

The bulb lays dormant after the leaves and flower stem die back and has contractile root base that yank it down further in to the soil. The bloom stem and leaves form in the light bulb, to emerge the following season. Most types are dormant from summer time to later winter, flowering in the spring, though a few kinds are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Description Narcissus tazetta var.chinensis Roem.JPG

Narcissus tazetta Specie della flora italiana

File:Narcissus tazetta L. var chinensis Roemer.jpg

File:Narcissus tazetta Flores 2012219 SierraMadrona.jpg Wikimedia