In the section on Narcissus and Echo, from Ovid39;s 39;Metamorphoses

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 being used to describe all or some known 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 yellow (orange or pink in garden kinds), with either even or contrasting coloured corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in old civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten parts with approximately 50 species. The true quantity of kinds has assorted, depending on how they are categorized, due to similarity between hybridization and kinds. The genus arose some right time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The precise origins of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is associated with a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the children of that name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English term 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The types are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a center of variety in the Traditional western 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, diseases and disorders include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, nematodes and mites. 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 after the 16th century and by the past due 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mainly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as trim blooms as ornamental plant life in private and general population gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorised into divisions, covering an array 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 use in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and fine art, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from death to fortune, and as symbols of planting season. The daffodil is the countrywide blossom of Wales and the sign of tumors charities in many countries. The looks of the outrageous flowers in springtime is associated with festivals in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering with an underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the next time from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm depending on species. Dwarf species such as N. asturiensis have a maximum level of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may expand as extra tall as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow bloom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, small, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The vegetable stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but occasionally a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The blooms, that happen to be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, sometimes both or almost never renewable, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an exterior ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical formed corona. The plants may suspend down (pendent), or be erect. You will find six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berries involves a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

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

Narcissus Pictures

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