NARCISSUS 



NARCISSUS 



Narcissus. 



Leaves. — Produced from a coated bulb. 



Scape.— Rising from the bulb, bearing one or more flowers, which at 

 first are included in a membranous spathe. 



Penow/Zf.— -Tube more or less cylindrical, with six equal, widely 

 spreading divisions. A cup-shaped corona or crown is borne at the 

 throat of the perianth. 



Stamens.— S,\K, inserted in the tube and not protruding beyond the 

 crown. 



Ova*-}!.— Three-angled; the thread-like style ends in a blunt stigma. 



The Garden Narcissi are classified into three divisions according 

 to the character of the corona, thus: 



Group I. — Long-crowned. In this group the corona is as long or 

 longer than the segments of the perianth. The Trumpet Daffodil, 

 Narcissus pseudo-narcissus, with its varieties and hybrids, is the type 

 of this group. 



Group II. — Medium-crowned. In this the corona is one-half to 

 three-fourths the length of the perianth segments. The Superb Nar- 

 cissus, Narcissus incomparabilis, is the type. 



Group III. — Short-crowned. In this the corona is very short. The 

 Poet's Narcissus, Narcissus poeticus, and the Paper White Narcissus, 

 are types of the group. 



All the Narcissi have bulbs which are really dwarfed stems, 

 surrounded by succulent leaves. These are uiiderground treasure- 

 houses, in which the material made by the leaves in the spring 

 has been stored up and kept intact through summer heat and 

 winter cold. From this bulb arise the leaves and flower stems of 

 the new plant. 



To the family characteristics of the Amaryllids the genus 

 Narcissus adds one that is peculiarly and distinctively its own. 

 The union of calyx and corolla is so complete that botanists make 

 no effort to distinguish them, and call the floral envelope a perianth. 

 This takes the form of a tube with a spreading six-parted border. 

 At the very throat of this tube, at the point where the border di- 

 vides into spreading segments, there develops a growth known 



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