File:Narcissus tazetta var chinensis1.jpg Wikimedia Commons

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common labels 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 the cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden varieties), with either standard or contrasting coloured corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in early civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally explained by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally thought to have about ten portions with roughly 50 species. The amount of species has varied, depending about how they are grouped, a consequence of to similarity between hybridization and kinds. The genus arose some right amount of time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the real name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is often linked to a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youth of this name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English phrase 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly likened.

The varieties are native to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a centre of diversity in the American Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were released into the Far East to the tenth century 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 urbanisation and tourism.

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 overdue 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mainly on holland. Today narcissi are popular as slash plants so that ornamental vegetation in private and general public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering a variety of colours and shapes. Like other members of these family, narcissi produce a 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 treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and fine art, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in several cultures, ranging from fatality to fortune, and as icons of planting season. The daffodil is the nationwide flower of Wales and the mark of tumors charities in many countries. The appearance of the outdoors flowers in spring is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The crops are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, slim, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The seed stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but occasionally a cluster of blossoms (umbel). The flowers, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, both or seldom green sometimes, contain a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outside ring made up of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical designed corona. The plants may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit includes a dried capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

The bulb is placed dormant after the leaves and rose stem die back and has contractile origins that take it down further into the soil. The rose leaves and stem form in the light, to emerge the following season. Most species are dormant from summertime to later winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few varieties are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus tazetta Specie della flora italiana

Narcissus_tazetta_romanus.jpg

Narcissus tazetta narciso nostrale Piante magiche

Narcissus tazetta, Greece near Zalongo in 6.january.2010