Common name: Daffodil, Narcissus, Jonquil, Lent lily • Hindi

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mainly spring perennial plant life in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common titles 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 a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The plants are usually white or yellowish (orange or pink in garden kinds), with either even or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in traditional civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally identified by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten parts with around 50 species. The number of kinds has assorted, depending on how they are categorised, due to similarity between kinds and hybridization. The genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The precise origins of the name Narcissus is unidentified, but it is often linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the youngsters of this name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English word 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The kinds are indigenous to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a center of variety in the European Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into 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, mites and nematodes. 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 hundred years and by the later 19th century were an important commercial crop centred generally on holland. Today narcissi are popular as trim blooms so when ornamental vegetation in private and general population gardens. The long history of breeding has led to a large number of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are grouped into divisions, covering an array of shapes and colours. Like other members with their family, narcissi create a true 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 literature and fine art, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from fatality to good fortune, and as icons of springtime. The daffodil is the nationwide flower of Wales and the sign of cancers charities in many countries. The looks of the outrageous flowers in planting season is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying again after flowering to a underground storage light. They regrow in the following year from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm with respect to the species. Dwarf varieties such as N. asturiensis have a maximum elevation of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may grow as tall as 80 cm.

The crops are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow blossom stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, slim, strap-shaped leaves come up from the bulb. The herb stem bears a solitary bloom, but occasionally a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The plants, that happen to be usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, 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 composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disk to conical designed corona. The flowers may suspend down (pendent), or be erect. You will discover six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit consists of a dried up capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seed products.

The bulb sits dormant following the leaves and blossom stem die again and has contractile roots that pull it down further in to the soil. The flower stem and leaves form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from summer season to late winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are fall flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Narcissus pseudonarcissus subsp. nobilis

Narcissus Indian Summer

Camassia quamash Indian Hyacinthone of the last spring bulbs to

Cover of Black Narcissus 1939, published by Little Brown Co.