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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 used to describe all or some members of the genus. Narcissus has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The blossoms are usually white or yellowish (orange or red in garden types), with either uniform or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in historic civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally defined by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally considered to have about ten portions with about 50 species. The amount of species has assorted, depending how they are labeled, due to similarity between kinds and hybridization. The genus arose some right amount of 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 unfamiliar, but it is associated with a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the junior of this name who fell deeply in love with his own representation. The English term 'daffodil' appears to be produced from "asphodel", with which it was commonly compared.

The varieties are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a centre of variety in the European Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were presented in to the Far East to the tenth century prior. Narcissi have a tendency to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are insect-pollinated also. 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 urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became ever more popular in Europe following the 16th hundred years and by the past due 19th century were an important commercial crop centred mostly on the Netherlands. Narcissi are popular as chop plants and as ornamental crops in private and general public gardens today. The long history of breeding has led to thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are labeled into divisions, covering a wide range of colours and shapes. Like other members of the family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if ingested unintentionally. This property has been exploited for medicinal use in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in art and literature, 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 nationwide blossom of Wales and the mark of cancers charities in many countries. The looks of the outdoors flowers in springtime is associated with festivals in many places.

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

The plant life are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves occur from the light bulb. The place stem bears a solitary rose, but occasionally a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The plants, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, both or hardly ever inexperienced sometimes, consist of 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 plants may hang down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The berries includes a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seeds.

The bulb sits dormant after the leaves and flower stem die back again and has contractile origins that take it down further in to the soil. The flower stem and leaves form in the light bulb, to emerge the following season. Most species are dormant from warmer summer months to overdue winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

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