Narcissus Luttrell’s inscription in BrettSmith.74

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 by the cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellow (orange or red in garden types), with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona.

Narcissus were well known in early civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Varieties Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten parts with around 50 species. The true range of types has assorted, depending on how they are categorised, due to similarity between hybridization and types. The genus arose time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent regions of southwest Europe. The precise origins of the real name Narcissus is mysterious, but it is linked to a Greek phrase for intoxicated (narcotic) and the misconception of the children of this name who fell in love with his own representation. The English word 'daffodil' is apparently produced from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The kinds are local to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a middle of variety in the American Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced in to the Far East to the tenth hundred years prior. 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 others are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism.

Historical accounts suggest narcissi have been cultivated from the initial times, but became increasingly popular in Europe following the 16th hundred years and by the past due 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred primarily on holland. Today narcissi are popular as chop blossoms as ornamental plants in private and public gardens. The long history of breeding has led to thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are categorized into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members with their family, narcissi produce a true 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 resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in books and art work, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in various cultures, ranging from death to fortune, and as icons of spring. The daffodil is the national rose of Wales and the icon of cancers 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 after flowering to a underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the following calendar year from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm depending on the species. Dwarf types such as N. asturiensis have a maximum height of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta might increase as extra tall as 80 cm.

The crops are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow rose stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, slim, strap-shaped leaves come up from the bulb. The plant stem bears a solitary flower, but sometimes a cluster of blossoms (umbel). The blossoms, that happen to be conspicuous and white or yellowish usually, sometimes both or rarely 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 molded corona. The plants may hang down (pendent), or be erect. A couple of six pollen bearing stamens adjoining a central style. The ovary is second-rate (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The super fruit includes a dried capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seed products.

The bulb is placed dormant after the leaves and rose stem die back again and has contractile root base that draw it down further in to the soil. The bloom leaves and stem form in the light, to emerge the following season. Most kinds are dormant from summer months to later winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are autumn flowering.

Narcissus Pictures

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