All About Daffodils: Narcissus x Medioluteus:The Original Poetaz

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names 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 blooms are generally white or yellow (orange or green in garden types), with either even or contrasting colored tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally identified by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten portions with roughly 50 species. The true variety of types has mixed, depending on how they are categorized, thanks to similarity between hybridization and types. The genus arose some 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 anonymous, but it is often associated with a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English phrase 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly likened.

The types are native 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 wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced in to the Far East before the tenth century. Narcissi tend to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are insect-pollinated also. 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 urbanisation and tourism.

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 past due 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred generally on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as cut blooms and as ornamental plants in private and general public gardens today. The long history of breeding has resulted in a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are grouped into divisions, covering an array of shapes and colours. Like other members of their 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 use within traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in literature and artwork, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from fatality to good fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the national bloom of Wales and the image of tumors charities in many countries. The appearance of the wild flowers in spring and coil is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The plants are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, thin, strap-shaped leaves occur from the light bulb. The place stem usually bears a solitary rose, but sometimes a cluster of blossoms (umbel). The plants, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, 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 outer ring made up of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The plants may suspend down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruits involves a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

The bulb lays dormant after the leaves and blossom stem die again and has contractile origins that draw it down further into the soil. The blossom stem and leaves form in the bulb, to emerge the next season. Most species are dormant from summer to late winter, flowering in the springtime, though a few varieties are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus x medioluteus Mill. Forum Acta Plantarum

Daffodil / Narcissus x medioluteus Plants Pinterest

Narcissus medioluteus5.jpg

Galleria della Flora Acta Plantarum