(Redirected from Daffodil)
'''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. Though 'Hortus Third'
[1] cites 26 wild species, 'Daffodils for North American Gardens'
[2] cites between 50 and 100 excluding species variants and wild hybrids. Through taxonomic and genetic research, it is speculated that over time this number will likely continue to be refined.
[3] '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.
Etymology
The name Narcissus is derived from that of the youth of Greek mythology called
Narkissos, who, in at least one of many variations of the tale, became so obsessed with his own reflection as he kneeled and gazed into a pool of water that he fell into the water and drowned. The legend continues that the Narcissus plant first sprang from where he died.
There are several plurals in common use: "Narcissi", "Narcissuses", and "Narcissus". This last is common in American English, and is the form preferred by the American Daffodil Society, but it is very rare in British usage. The American
Webster's Third New International Dictionary gives plurals in the order "Narcissus", "Narcissuses", and "Narcissi", but the British
Compact Oxford English Dictionary lists just "Narcissi" and "Narcissuses".
The name Daffodil is derived from an earlier "Affodell", a variant of
Asphodel. The reason for the introduction of the initial "d" is not known, although a probable source is an etymological merging from the Dutch article "de," as in "De affodil." From at least the sixteenth century "Daffadown Dilly" or "daffadown dilly" has appeared as a playful synonym of the name.
The name 'jonquil' is sometimes used in
North America, particularly in the Southeastern United States, but strictly speaking that name belongs only to the rush-leaved ''
Narcissus jonquilla'' and cultivars derived from it.
Flowers of the tazzetta-group species ''
Narcissus papyraceus'' are commonly called "paper whites".
Description
All ''Narcissus'' species have a central
trumpet-, bowl-, or disc-shaped
corona surrounded by a ring of 6 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.
Medicine
In
Kampo, traditional Japanese medicine, wounds were treated with narcissus root and wheat flour paste,
[4] 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.
[5]
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.
[6]
Species
★ ''
Narcissus bulbocodium''
★ ''
Narcissus cyclamineus''
★ ''
Narcissus minor''
★ ''
Narcissus papyraceus''
★ ''
Narcissus poeticus''
★ ''
Narcissus pseudonarcissus''
★ ''
Narcissus tazetta''
★ ''
Narcissus triandrus''
Popular culture
The daffodil serves as 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 on
Saint David's Day (
March 1).
In some countries the yellow variation is associated with Easter.
The flower is a common decoration flower during Chinese New Year.
William Wordsworth's short poem "
I wandered lonely as a cloud" has become linked in the popular mind with the daffodils which 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.
Daffodils are a part of
E. E. Cummings' poem, "
in a time of daffodils"
Various Cancer Societies around the world use the daffodil as fundraising symbol. "Daffodil Days" are organised to raise funds
by offering the flowers in return for a donation.
★
American Cancer Society Daffodil Day
★
New Zealand Cancer Society Daffodil Day
★
The Cancer Council Australia Daffodil Day
Jonquil flowers.
Horticultural Divisions
The
American Daffodil Society - ADS divides all Narcissus into 13 Horticultural Divisions, based partly upon flower form and partly upon genetic background. Since the ADS web is written for general consumption the text of the descriptions contained there is relatively broad.
[7] Horticulturist Robert F. Gabella of
GardenOpus has further clarified herein these definitions by replacement of the words "cup" with "corona", "petals" with "perianth segments", and clarified corona length and corona radius for cases where the corona does not protrude outward. Gabella has further emphasized the prevalence of species
phenotype comparable to the genetic lineage of ADS Divisions 5 through 10, and has also called out garden and/or wild origin.
The Divisions are:
★ 'Division 1: Trumpet Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Corona length is equal to or exceeds the length of the perianth segments, flowers are borne one to a stem.
★ 'Division 2: Large-cupped Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Corona length, or corona radius if flattened, is more than 1/3 but less than equal to the length of the perianth segments; flowers are borne one to a stem.
★ 'Division 3: Small-cupped Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Corona length, or corona radius if flattened, is no more than 1/3 the length of the perianth segments; flowers are borne one to a stem.
★ 'Division 4: Double Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Any Daffodil in which more than one layer of perianth segments and/or more than one layer of corona segments are present. The combination of doubled perianth and corona segments can vary widely between cultivars, and there may be 1 or multiple flowers per stem, also varying by cultivar.
★ 'Division 5: Triandrus Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics of ''
Narcissus triandrus'' and its allies clearly evident; flowers hang more-or-less downward, perianth segments are often reflexed, and plants most often bear 2 or more flowers per stem.
★ 'Division 6: Cyclamineus Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics of ''
Narcissus cyclamineus'' and its allies clearly evident; perianth segments are often reflexed or wind-swept in appearance, corona length varies but can sometimes exceed the perianth segment length, and flowers are borne one to a stem.
★ 'Division 7: Jonquilla Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics of ''
Narcissus jonquilla'' and its allies clearly evident; flowers are small to medium sized, perianth segments are flat, corona length varies but is usually short and semi-spherical, foliage may be rush-like and dark green as in the species but phenotypic distillation through crossbreeding between Divisions has produced a range of foliage types. Fragrance is usually prominent. Flowers may be borne one to several to a stem, depending upon cultivar.
★ 'Division 8: Tazetta (Poetaz or Bunch-flowered) Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics may be intermediate between ''
Narcissus tazetta'' and its allies and/or ''N. tazzetta'' in combination with ''
N. poeticus'' is ambiguously evident. Perianth segments are flat, corona length is usually short and semi-spherical. Fragrance is usually prominent. Flowers may be borne in clusters of a few to over a dozen per stem, depending upon cultivar.
★ 'Division 9: Poeticus (Poet's) Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics of ''
Narcissus poeticus'' and its allies clearly evident; flowers are medium sized, perianth segments are flat and nearly always white, corona is small, flat, and wrinkled - usually green eyed and orange-to-red banded - often with intermediate shades of yellow. Fragrance is usually prominent. Flowers are usually borne one, but very occasionally two, to a stem.
★ 'Division 10: Bulbocodium Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin. Characteristics of ''
Narcissus bulbocodium'' and its allies clearly evident; flowers are small, perianth segments are small, linear to awl-shaped, corona is very large in proportion to the perianth and "Hoop Petticoat" or bowl shaped, foliage is usually rush-like and dark green as in the species. Flowers are borne one to a stem.
★ 'Division 11: Split-corona Daffodils' - Plants are of garden origin and can represent any potential genetic background. The corona, which can be any length or orientation, is radially split from the outer rim inward at more than half its natural length. The splitting can occur triradially or hexiradially, and in some cases the segmants may be broad enough to underlap and overlap alternating perianth segments. Though flowers are most often borne one to a stem, there are cultivars with multiple flowers per stem. Division 11 is further subdivided as follows:
★
★ a) Collar Daffodils - Corona segments lay opposite the perianth segments and are usually in two whorls of three.
★
★ b) Papillon Daffodils - Corona segments lay alternate to the perianth segments and are usually in a single whorl of six.
★ 'Division 12: Miscellaneous Daffodils' - Division 12 consists of Daffodils not classifiable by the first 11 Divisions. They may be inter-division hybrids, or of such ambiguous heritage or phenotype that they do not easily fit the above divisions
★ 'Division 13: Species, Wild Variants and Wild Hybrids' - Division 13 consists of all Daffodils occurring naturally in the wild.
★ 'Miniature Daffodils' - Miniature Daffodils are not an official ADS Division; miniatures can occur in each of the other 13 Divisions and posess the same descriptive characteristics. Howerver, the flowers are 1.5" or less in diameter, and ideally are borne on proportionally smaller plants.
Color Range and Classification
Daffodils may be self colored, that is, both perianth and corona identical in color and shade, or the colors between the perianth and corona may differ widely. Some perianths and some coronas also may contain more than one color or shade. Prevalent colors are all shades and tones of yellow, white, orange, pink, red and green. Pinks vary from apricot to rose in shades from pale to deep, and some more recent cultivars have hints of lavender or lilac. Reds vary from orange-red to salmon red to near scarlet. Pink, red, orange and green tones are mainly confined to the corona. However, breeders are currently working against the genera's natural pigmentation and genetic barriers to create improved cultivars in which pink, rose, red, orange and green tones suffuse or "bleed" from the more highly colored coronas onto the perianth segments of white or yellow. There are an increasing number of commercially available varieties which display this enhanced coloration.
★ ADS Color Classification
:
★
★ 'W' = White or whitish
★
★ 'G' = Green
★
★ 'Y' = Yellow
★
★ 'P' = Pink
★
★ 'O' = Orange
★
★ 'R' = Red
The flower's two regions are assigned color somewhat differently. The perianth colors are assigned from (in the case of multiple colors) the outer edge of the segment inward to the base of the corona. The corona colors are assigned from the base of the corona outward to the rim. Thus, ''Actaea'', a Poeticus (Division 9) Daffodil pictured below, is officially classified as '9 W-GYR'. ''Accent'', which is a Large Cup (Division 2) Daffodil posessing a white perianth and a pink corona, is officially classified as '2 W-P'.
External links
★
Top100Plants: ''Daffodil''
★
Difference between daffodil and narcissus, see first paragraph
★
Historical Daffodils
★
American Daffodil Society - ADS
References
1. 'Hortus Third', Staff of The L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, 1976, pp. 754-756. (Macmillan Publishing Company, NY, NY; ISBN 0-02-505470-8)
2. 'Daffodils For North American Gardens', Brent and Becky Heath, 2001, (Bright Sky Press, Albany, TX; NY, NY; ISBN 0-9704729-7-8)
3. http://www.gardenopus.com 'GardenOpus'
4. Kampo — The Japanese Art of Herbal Healing Carmen Altomonte
5. PMID 9379365
6. ''citation needed''
7. http://daffodilusa.org 'American Daffodil Society - ADS'
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