Description Narcissus white.jpg

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names 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 with a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The blossoms are usually white or yellow (orange or red in garden kinds), with either standard or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in traditional civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally explained by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten parts with around 50 species. The true volume of kinds has varied, depending about how they are grouped, credited to similarity between species and hybridization. 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 exact origins of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own representation. The English term 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was compared commonly.

The kinds are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a middle of variety in the American Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into the Far East prior to the tenth century. Narcissi tend 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 become extinct, while some are threatened by increasing tourism and urbanisation.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became ever more popular in Europe after the 16th century and by the later 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mainly on holland. Today narcissi are popular as lower bouquets 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 an array of shapes and colours. Like other members of these 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 resulted in 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 different cultures, ranging from fatality to good fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the national blossom of Wales and the sign of cancer tumor charities in many countries. The looks of the outdoors flowers in planting season is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The vegetation are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, small, strap-shaped leaves arise from the light bulb. The seed stem usually bears a solitary flower, but once in a while a cluster of plants (umbel). The bouquets, that happen to be conspicuous and white or yellow usually, both or hardly ever renewable sometimes, contain 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 shaped corona. The plants may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. You can find six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is second-rate (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The berry consists of a dried up capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

The bulb lies dormant following the leaves and blossom stem die back again and has contractile root base that move it down further in to the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the light, to emerge the next season. Most species are dormant from summer season to late winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few kinds are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

narcissus_white_medal.jpg

File:Narcissus White Marvel.jpg Wikimedia Commons

File:Narcissus 39;White Lion39; cultivar, Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid

Narcissus White Medal Narcissi Flower Bulb Index