Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus, 1937. Oil on canvas, 511 x

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common brands including daffodil,[notes 1] daffadowndilly,[3] narcissus, and jonquil are used to describe all or some known members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The bouquets are generally white or yellowish (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 Species Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally considered to have about ten areas with roughly 50 species. The number of kinds has varied, depending how they are categorized, as a consequence to similarity between hybridization and types. 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 source of the true name Narcissus is undiscovered, but it is often associated with a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the junior of that name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English term 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The kinds are native to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a middle of variety in the European Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced in to the Far East before 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, nematodes and mites. Some Narcissus species have grown to be extinct, while some are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became ever more popular in Europe following the 16th hundred years and by the later 19th century were an important commercial crop centred generally on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as lower blossoms so that as ornamental plants in private and public gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are labeled into divisions, covering a wide range of colours and shapes. 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 accidentally ingested. This property has been exploited for medicinal used in traditional healing and has led to 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 various cultures, ranging from loss of life to good fortune, and as symbols of spring and coil. The daffodil is the nationwide blossom of Wales and the mark of cancers charities in many countries. The appearance of the untamed flowers in springtime is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering to the underground storage light. They regrow in the following season from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach heights 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 develop as extra tall as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, slim, strap-shaped leaves happen from the light. The seed stem usually bears a solitary rose, but occasionally a cluster of plants (umbel). The blooms, which are conspicuous and white or yellow usually, both or rarely inexperienced sometimes, contain 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 formed corona. The bouquets may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. You will discover six pollen bearing stamens bordering a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit contains a dried out capsule that splits (dehisces) launching numerous black seeds.

The bulb lies dormant after the leaves and bloom stem die again and has contractile root base that pull it down further into the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the light bulb, to emerge the next season. Most kinds are dormant from summer season to later winter, flowering in the planting season, though a few species are fall flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

The key to understanding the narcissism myth is not that he fell in

The Metamorphosis of Narcissus Salvador Dali 1937

Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus with detail of canyon at

Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus Flickr Photo Sharing!