Caravaggio, Narciso Narziss/Narcissus, Galleria Nazionale d39;Arte

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common brands including daffodil,[notes 1] daffadowndilly,[3] narcissus, and jonquil are 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 plants are generally white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden types), with either standard or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in old civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is generally thought to have about ten portions with about 50 species. The number of varieties has mixed, depending on how they are grouped, due to similarity between types and hybridization. The genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The precise source of the name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is often linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youngsters of this name who fell deeply in love with his own reflection. The English expression 'daffodil' is apparently derived from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The kinds are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a middle of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. 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 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 hundred years and by the later 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on holland. Today narcissi are popular as chop flowers so that as ornamental plant life in private and public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of the 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 utilization in traditional healing and has led to the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in art work and books, narcissi are associated with a true number of themes in various cultures, ranging from fatality to good fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the countrywide flower of Wales and the icon of cancer tumor charities in many countries. The looks of the untamed 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 bulb. They regrow in the following year from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm depending on the species. Dwarf species such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may grow as extra tall as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, slim, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The flower stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but once in a while a cluster of blossoms (umbel). The bouquets, that are conspicuous and white or yellow usually, sometimes both or almost never green, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outer ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical formed corona. The plants may hang down (pendent), or be erect. You will find six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is poor (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seeds.

The bulb is situated dormant after the leaves and blossom stem die back and has contractile root base that draw it down further into the soil. The flower leaves and stem form in the light bulb, to emerge the next season. Most varieties are dormant from summertime to later winter, flowering in the planting season, though a few kinds are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

mola c 1633 41 more art gallery mola narcissus echo narcissus pier

Narcissus and Echo The narcissus flower Ovid – The Roman Poet

Narcissus with Echo, in a manuscript of the Roman de la Rose

Narcissus 39;Double Romans39;, Angelo Porcelli