Narcissus Villa in Santorini

Narcissus /n?:r's?s?s/ is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants 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 the cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The bouquets are usually white or yellow (orange or red in garden varieties), with either standard or contrasting colored corona and tepals.

Narcissus were popular in early civilisation, both and botanically medicinally, but formally described by Linnaeus in his Types Plantarum (1753). The genus is normally thought to have about ten portions with about 50 species. The true number of kinds has mixed, depending on how they are grouped, a consequence of to similarity between hybridization and kinds. 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 origin of the true name Narcissus is mysterious, but it is linked to a Greek term for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the junior of this name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English term 'daffodil' appears to be derived from "asphodel", with which it was likened commonly.

The species are native to meadows and woods in southern European countries and North Africa with a center of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, the Iberian peninsula particularly. Both cultivated and wild 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 also insect-pollinated. Known pests, disorders and diseases 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 century and by the late 19th hundred years were an important commercial crop centred mostly on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as cut blooms and since 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 classified into divisions, covering a variety of colours and shapes. Like other members with their family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be poisonous if ingested inadvertently. This property has been exploited for medicinal use in traditional healing and has led to 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 different cultures, ranging from death to fortune, and as icons of spring. The daffodil is the nationwide blossom of Wales and the mark of cancers charities in many countries. The looks of the untamed flowers in springtime is associated with celebrations in many places.

Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying again after flowering for an underground storage light bulb. They regrow in the next time from brown-skinned ovoid light bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach levels of 5-80 cm with respect to the species. Dwarf varieties such as N. asturiensis have a maximum level of 5-8 cm, while Narcissus tazetta may increase as large as 80 cm.

The plant life are scapose, having an individual central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves occur from the light bulb. The seed stem usually bears a solitary flower, but occasionally a cluster of blossoms (umbel). The blossoms, which can be usually conspicuous and white or yellow, both or rarely green sometimes, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube 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 suspend down (pendent), or be erect. You will discover six pollen bearing stamens bordering a central style. The ovary is substandard (below the floral parts) comprising three chambers (trilocular). The berries contains a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) liberating numerous black seeds.

The bulb lies dormant following the leaves and blossom stem die again and has contractile origins that take it down further into the soil. The blossom leaves and stem form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most varieties are dormant from summertime to past due winter, flowering in the spring and coil, though a few species are fall months flowering.

Narcissus Pictures