Narcissus

Narcissus (Narcissus; Ukrainian: nartsyz). A bulbous, often fragrant ornamental plant of the family Amaryllidaceae. The leaves are linear, the flowers generally white or yellow. Single-flowered species, including the daffodil (N. pseudonarcissus) and the poet's narcissus (N. poeticus), are cultivated as decorative flowers. Of its approximately 40 species, only the narrow-leaved narcissus (N. angustiformis) grows wild in Ukraine, in the mountains of Transcarpathia (the Narcissus Valley in the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve). It is now so rare that it has been listed in the Red Data Book of endangered species. Narcissus bulbs are poisonous and contain a number of alkaloids, used in folk medicine as emetics and cathartics (see Medicinal plants).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]