The Gadget Lover: Narcissus as Narcosis” in Understanding Media

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mostly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common titles 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 bouquets are generally white or yellowish (orange or green in garden types), with either standard or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were popular in old civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally thought to have about ten areas with around 50 species. The true variety of types has assorted, depending how they are categorised, due to similarity between species 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 origins of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the young ones of this name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English word 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly likened.

The species are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a middle of variety in the European Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were launched in to the Far East to the tenth century prior. Narcissi have a tendency 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 others are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became increasingly popular in Europe after the 16th hundred years and by the later 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mainly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as slash blossoms so that as ornamental plant life in private and open public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorized into divisions, covering a variety of shapes and colours. Like other members of their 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 utilization in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and art work, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from loss of life to fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the nationwide blossom of Wales and the sign of cancer tumor charities in many countries. The looks of the wild flowers in planting season is associated with festivals in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering with an underground storage bulb. They regrow in the next 12 months from brown-skinned ovoid 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 height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might develop as large as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, thin, strap-shaped leaves happen from the bulb. The plant stem bears a solitary flower, but once in a while a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The blooms, which are usually conspicuous and white or yellow, both or hardly ever renewable sometimes, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outside ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical molded corona. The bouquets may hang down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berries consists of a dried capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb lies dormant following the leaves and blossom stem die back and has contractile roots that yank it down further into the soil. The blossom stem and leaves form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from summer time to overdue winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few varieties are fall flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

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