Narcissus ‘Hawera’ Lambley Nursery

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial vegetation 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 members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted with a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The blooms are generally white or yellowish (orange or red in garden kinds), with either uniform or contrasting colored tepals and corona.

Narcissus were popular in old civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally referred to by Linnaeus in his Kinds Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten sections with about 50 species. The true number of varieties has mixed, depending how they are classified, due to similarity between hybridization and kinds. The genus arose time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact source of the name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is associated with a Greek phrase for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the children of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English phrase 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The kinds are local to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a centre of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild 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 grown to be extinct, while others are threatened by increasing tourism and urbanisation.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became increasingly popular in Europe after the 16th century and by the later 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mostly on holland. Narcissi are popular as lower blossoms and since ornamental vegetation in private and general population gardens today. The long history of breeding has resulted in a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorized into divisions, covering a wide range of colours and shapes. 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 accidentally ingested. This property has been exploited for medicinal used in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treating Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and artwork, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in different cultures, ranging from loss of life to fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the nationwide rose of Wales and the mark of malignancy charities in many countries. The looks of the outdoors flowers in springtime is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying again after flowering for an underground storage light. They regrow in the next yr from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm with respect to the species. Dwarf kinds such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might grow as large as 80 cm.

The vegetation are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, slim, strap-shaped leaves arise from the light bulb. The flower stem usually bears a solitary rose, but occasionally a cluster of blooms (umbel). The blooms, which are conspicuous and white or yellowish usually, sometimes both or seldom green, contain a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an external ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disk to conical shaped corona. The blooms may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is poor (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berry consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seeds.

The bulb lays dormant following the leaves and flower stem die back and has contractile origins that draw it down further into the soil. The bloom leaves and stem form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from warmer summer months to late winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few varieties are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures