Narcissus Flower

Narcissus is the botanic name for a genus of mainly hardy, mostly spring-flowering, bulbs in the Amaryllis family native to Europe, North Africa, and Asia. There are also several Narcissus species that bloom in the autumn. Daffodil is a common English name, sometimes used now for all varieties, and is the chief common name of horticultural prevalence used by the American Daffodil Society. The range of forms in cultivation has been heavily modified and extended, with new variations available from specialists almost every year.

All Narcissus species have a central trumpet-, bowl-, or disc-shaped corona surrounded by a ring of six floral leaves called the perianth which is united into a tube at the forward edge of the ovary. The three outer segments are sepals, and the three inner segments are petals. Though the traditional daffodil of folklore, poetry, and field may have a yellow to golden-yellow color all over, both in the wild species and due to breeding, the perianth and corona may be variously colored. Breeders have developed some daffodils with double, triple, or ambiguously multiple rows and layers of segments, and several wild species also have known double variants.

All Narcissus varieties contain the alkaloid poison lycorine, mostly in the bulb but also in the leaves.

In kampo (traditional Japanese medicine), wounds were treated with narcissus root and wheat flour paste, though it does not appear in the modern kampo herb list. The Roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsus listed narcissus root in De Medicina among medical herbs, described as emollient, erodent, and "powerful to disperse whatever has collected in any part of the body". In one scientific study, the ethanol extract of the bulbs was found effective in one mouse model of nociception, para-benzoquinone induced abdominal constriction, but not in another, the hot plate test.

One of the most common dermatitis problems for florists, "daffodil itch" involves dryness, fissures, scaling, and erythema in the hands, often accompanied by subungual hyperkeratosis (thickening of the skin beneath the nails). It is blamed on exposure to calcium oxalate in the sap.


Popular culture
The daffodil is the national flower of Wales. One species, Narcissus obvallaris, grows only in a small area around Tenby. In Wales it is traditional to wear a daffodil or a leek on Saint David's Day (March 1). This has led to suggestions that the word "daffodil" may have been influenced by the name "Dafydd," a Welsh form of "David" (see Etymology).

In some countries the yellow variation is associated with Easter.

The flower is a common decoration during Chinese New Year.

In the visual novel Narcissu, which is named after the flower, a pair of patients with terminal illnesses (one with cancer) escape from hospice to journey to an island filled with daffodils.

William Wordsworth's short poem "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" has become linked in the popular mind with the daffodils that form its main image.

In the movie Big Fish, Edward Bloom plants a field of daffodils outside of Sandra Templeton's window in order to win her heart.

There is a Daffodil Festival in Nantucket, MA the last weekend in April of every year. In this celebration of spring hundreds of antique cars are adorned with thousands of daffodils.


Selected species
Narcissus triandrus is a species of plant in the Amaryllis family native to southwestern Europe. The common name is "Angel's Tears", and the plant has pendulant cream to yellowish flowers.

Narcissus tazetta (Chinese Sacred Lily, Bunch-flowered Narcissus, Joss flower) is a perennial ornamental plant of the family Amaryllidaceae that grows from a bulb.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus (known as the Wild daffodil) is a perennial flowering plant of the family Amaryllidaceae which grows from a bulb. It has pale yellow flowers with a darker central trumpet. The long, narrow leaves are slightly greyish in colour and rise from the base of the stem.
The species is native to Western Europe from Spain and Portugal east to Germany and north to England and Wales. It is commonly grown in gardens and populations have become established in many other parts of Europe. Wild plants grow in woods, grassland and on rocky ground. In Britain native populations have decreased substantially since the 19th century due to intensification of agriculture, clearance of woodland and uprooting of the bulbs for use in gardens.

Narcissus poeticus - The Findern Flower, also known as the "Poet's Daffodil", was brought back from the crusades by Sir Geoffrey de Fynderne. It blossoms in certain gardens in the village and has become an emblem of the village of Findern.

Narcissus papyraceus, commonly known as Paperwhite, is a perennial bulbous plant native to the Mediterranean region. The white flowers are borne in bunches and are strongly fragrant. It is frequently grown as a house plant, often forced to flower at Christmas.

Narcissus longispathus is a species of plant in the Amaryllidaceae family. It is endemic to Spain. Its natural habitat is rivers. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Narcissus

Daffodils (Orange and White)

Narcissus poeticus

Yellow Daffodil

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