Narcissus poeticus explained

Narcissus poeticus, the poet's daffodil, poet's narcissus, nargis, pheasant's eye, findern flower or pinkster lily, was one of the first daffodils to be cultivated, and is frequently identified as the narcissus of ancient times (although Narcissus tazetta and Narcissus jonquilla have also been considered as possibilities). It is also often associated with the Greek legend of Narcissus. It is the type species of the genus Narcissus and is widely naturalised in North America.

Description

The flower is extremely fragrant, with a ring of tepals in pure white and a short corona of light yellow with a distinct reddish edge.[1] It grows to 20to tall.[2] [3] [4]

Taxonomy

Narcissus poeticus was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum on page 289 in 1753.[5] [6]

Distribution

Narcissus poeticus is native to central and southern Europe from Spain, France through Switzerland, Austria to Croatia, Albania,[7] Greece and Ukraine.[8] It is naturalised in Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Turkey, New Zealand, British Columbia, Washington state, Oregon, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, and much of the eastern United States,[9] [10] [11] from Louisiana and Georgia north to Maine and Wisconsin.[12] [13]

Legend and history

The earliest mention of poet's daffodil is likely in the Historia Plantarum (VI.6.9), the main botanical writing of Theophrastus (371 –), who wrote about a spring-blooming narcissus that the Loeb Classical Library editors identify as Narcissus poeticus.[14] According to Theophrastus, the narcissus (νάρκισσος), also called leirion (λείριον), has a leafless stem, with the flower at the top. The plant blooms very late, after the setting of Arcturus about the equinox.[15] The poet Virgil, in his fifth Eclogue, also wrote about a narcissus whose description corresponds with that of Narcissus poeticus.[16] In one version of the myth about the Greek hero Narcissus, he was punished by the Goddess of vengeance, Nemesis, who turned him into a Narcissus flower that historians associate with Narcissus poeticus.[17] [18] [19] The fragrant Narcissus poeticus has also been recognised as the flower that Persephone and her companions were gathering when Hades abducted her into the Underworld, according to Hellmut Baumann in The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature. This myth accounts for the custom, which has lasted into modern times, of decorating graves with these flowers.[20] Linnaeus, who gave the flower its name, quite possibly did so because he believed it was the one that inspired the tale of Narcissus, handed down by poets since ancient times.[21]

Uses

In medicine, it was described by Dioscorides in his Materia Medica as "Being laid on with Loliacean meal, & honey it draws out splinters".[22] James Sutherland also mentioned it in his Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis.[23] In Korea, it is used to treat conjunctivitus, urethritis and amenorrhoea.[8]

Use in perfume

Poet's daffodil is cultivated in the Netherlands and southern France for its essential oil,[8] narcissus oil, one of the most popular fragrances used in perfumes. Narcissus oil is used as a principal ingredient in 11% of modern quality perfumes—including 'Fatale' and 'Samsara'—as a floral concrete or absolute. The oil's fragrance resembles a combination of jasmine and hyacinth.[24]

Cultivation

Narcissus poeticus has long been cultivated in Europe. According to one legend, it was brought back to England from the crusades by Sir Geoffrey de Fynderne.[25] It was still abundant in 1860 when historian Bernard Burke visited the village of Findern—where it still grows in certain gardens and has become an emblem of the village.[26] It was introduced to America by the late 18th century,[27] when Bernard McMahon of Philadelphia offered it among his narcissus. It may be the "sweet white narcissus" that Peter Collinson sent John Bartram in Philadelphia, only to be told that it was already common in Pennsylvania, having spread from its introduction by early settlers.[28] The plant has naturalised throughout the eastern half of the United States and Canada, along with some western states and provinces.[29]

Narcissus poeticus has long been hybridised with the wild British daffodil Narcissus pseudonarcissus, producing many named hybrids. These older heritage hybrids tend to be more elegant and graceful than modern hybrid daffodils, and are becoming available in the UK once again.[30] One such cultivar is the popular 'Actaea', which has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[31]

N. poeticus var. recurvus, the old pheasant's eye daffodil, has also won the AGM.[32] [33]

Toxicity

While all narcissi are poisonous when eaten, poet's daffodil is more dangerous than others, acting as a strong emetic and irritant.[34] The scent can be powerful enough to cause headache and vomiting if a large quantity is kept in a closed room.[35]

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External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Woodhead, Eileen. William W. Custead. Early Canadian Gardening. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. 1998. 171. 978-0-7735-1731-8.
  2. Web site: Narcissus poeticus. Flora of North America. 2008-12-25.
  3. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358308#page/301/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 289, Narcissus poeticus
  4. Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel. 1838. Flora Telluriana 4: 20, as Autogenes angustifolius and Autogenes poeticus
  5. Web site: Taxon: Narcissus poeticus L. . https://web.archive.org/web/20151223074228/https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?25042 . dead . 23 December 2015 . ars-grin.gov (Germplasm Resources Information Network) . 15 December 2015 .
  6. Web site: Amaryllidaceae Narcissus poeticus L.. ipni.org (International Plant Names Index) . 15 December 2015.
  7. The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal - Vol.18 - Pag.51
  8. Peter Hanelt (Editor) for Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
  9. Pugsley, Herbert William. 1915. Journal of Botany, British and Foreign 53 (Suppl. 2): 36, as Narcissus hellenicus
  10. Sell, Peter Derek. 1996. Flora of Great Britain and Ireland 5: 363, as Narcissus poeticus subsp. majalis
  11. Dulac, Joseph. 1867. Flore du Département des Hautes-Pyrénées, 133, as Stephanophorum purpuraceum
  12. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=282063 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  13. http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Narcissus%20poeticus.png Biota of North America Program
  14. Book: Jashemski, Wilhelmina Mary Feemster. Frederick Gustav Meyer. The Natural History of Pompeii: A Systematic Survey. Cambridge University Press. 2002. 131. 978-0-521-80054-9.
  15. Theophrastus, Historia plantarum (Enquiry into plants), ed. A. Hort, vol. 2, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1916 (2:1961), p. 42-43. "ὄψιον δὲ σφόδρα· μετὰ γὰρ ᾿Αρκτοῦρον ἡ ἄνθησις καὶ περὶ ἰσημερίαν".
  16. Book: Bourne, Stephen Eugene. W. L. Foster. The Book of the Daffodil. J. Lane. 1903. 3. the book of the daffodil bourne..
  17. Book: Lehner, Ernst. Johanna Lehner. Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants, and Trees. Omnigraphics. 1990. 73. 978-1-55888-886-9.
  18. "In the classic myth, Nemesis, the deity of vengeance, complying with Hera's order to punish Narcissus for his egotism, turns him into the narcissus flower (narcissus poeticus)" Peavy, p. 438.
  19. Peavy. Charles D.. Jul–Sep 1966. Faulkner's Use of Folklore in The Sound and the Fury. The Journal of American Folklore. 79. 313. 437–447. 537508. 10.2307/537508. American Folklore Society.
  20. Taken from Baumann, Hellmut, The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature, London: The Herbert Press; 1993. Cited in Dafni. Amots. Efraim Lev . Efraim Lev. Sabine Beckmann . Christian Eichberger . 2006-09-10. Ritual plants of Muslim graveyards in northern Israel. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2. 38. 10.1186/1746-4269-2-38. 38. 16961931. 1584233 . free .
  21. Web site: Daffodils – the Flower that Means Spring!. Allen. Ray. Floridata. 2008-12-26.
  22. Web site: The Sibbald Physic Garden. Eastwood. Dr M A Eastwood. History of Medicine. Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 2008-12-26.
  23. Robertson. Forbes W.. Winter 2001. James Sutherland's "Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis" (1683). Garden History. 29. 2. 144. 1587367. The Garden History Society. 10.2307/1587367.
  24. Book: Groom, Nigel. The New Perfume Handbook. Springer. 1997. 225. 978-0-7514-0403-6 .
  25. Book: The Christian. Morgan and Scott. 1871.
  26. Web site: Welcome to Findern. Findern Parish Council. 2008-12-26.
  27. Book: Taylor, Raymond L.. Plants of Colonial Days. Courier Dover Publications. 1996. 68. 978-0-486-29404-9.
  28. Ann Leighton, American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century: 'For Use or for Delight' (University of Massachusetts Press) 1986:459.
  29. Web site: Narcissus poeticus L.. USDA Plants Profile. United States Department of Agriculture. 9 January 2013.
  30. News: Narcissus: Old gold. Kingsbury. Noel. 2008-03-20. telegraph.co.uk. 2008-12-26.
  31. Web site: Narcissus 'Actaea' . RHS . 18 February 2020.
  32. Web site: Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus . www.rhs.org . Royal Horticultural Society . 24 February 2020.
  33. Web site: AGM Plants - Ornamental . July 2017 . 107 . Royal Horticultural Society . www.rhs.org . 18 February 2019.
  34. Book: Hanks, Gordon R.. Narcissus and Daffodil: The Genus Narcissus. CRC Press. 2002. 27. 978-0-415-27344-2.
  35. Book: Grieve, Maud. C. F. Leyel. A Modern Herbal. Courier Dover Publications. 1971. 573. 978-0-486-22799-3.

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