.: Day 301: Fun Fact Friday Narcissus Was Trying to Stay Hydrated

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of mostly spring perennial plants in the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names including daffodil,[notes 1] daffadowndilly,[3] narcissus, and jonquil are being 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 blossoms are generally white or yellow (orange or red in garden types), with either even or contrasting coloured corona and tepals.

Narcissus were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally detailed by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten sections with approximately 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are labeled, due to similarity between hybridization and species. The genus arose some right time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name Narcissus is unknown, but it is associated with a Greek expression for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the junior of this name who fell in love with his own representation. The English word '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 middle of variety in the Western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both cultivated and wild plants have naturalised widely, and were unveiled in to the ASIA to the tenth hundred years prior. Narcissi have a tendency 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 others are threatened by increasing tourism and urbanisation.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became ever more popular in Europe following the 16th century and by the overdue 19th century were an important commercial crop centred generally on holland. Narcissi are popular as lower plants so that as ornamental plants 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 categorised into divisions, covering a variety of colours and shapes. 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 use within traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in art work and books, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from loss of life to good fortune, and as icons of planting season. The daffodil is the national blossom of Wales and the mark of tumors charities in many countries. The appearance of the untamed flowers in springtime is associated with festivals in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back again after flowering for an underground storage light. They regrow in the next 12 months from brown-skinned ovoid lights with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5-80 cm with regards to the species. Dwarf kinds such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may increase as high as 80 cm.

The crops are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several blue-green or green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves occur from the light bulb. The seed stem usually bears a solitary bloom, but occasionally a cluster of bouquets (umbel). The flowers, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellowish, sometimes both or almost never inexperienced, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral pipe above the ovary, then an outside ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disk to conical designed corona. The bouquets may hang up down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens encircling a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit contains a dry out capsule that splits (dehisces) launching numerous black seeds.

The bulb is dormant after the leaves and blossom stem die again and has contractile root base that yank it down further into the soil. The blossom stem and leaves form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from summer to later winter, flowering in the spring, though a few varieties are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

Salvador Dalí, Metamorphosis of Narcissus with detail of flower and

Salvador Dali Salvador Dali Metamorphosis of Narcissus Painting

tout ceci est magnifique: Portrait of the narcissist as a con artist

salvador dali the metamorphosis of narcissus 1937 narcissus in his