國花系列:NARCISSUS (柬埔寨)

Name: All daffodils are Narcissus, which is the genus name. According to the International Cultivar Registration Authority (for Narcissus and for several other flowers that is the UK's Royal Horticultural Society) daffodil is accepted as a common name for all members of the Narcissus genus. However, most people think of daffodils as the single flower, large trumpet yellow ones, which are the most common kind of daffodils, and call the smaller headed scented varieties, narcissi. The Oxford Dictionary defines narcissus (plural narcissi) as "any of a group of flowers including jonquils and daffodils, especially the kind with heavily-scented single white flowers". In fact, even the growers of the scented varieties call all of their products white or yellow, single or multi-headed, "narcissi" flower is named after Narcissus in Greek legend (see Trivia below). "Narcissus" comes from the Greek for "numbness" referring to the narcotic properties of the plant.

英名：Chinese Narsissus
別名:水仙花、雅蒜、金盞銀臺、中國水仙、天蒜。
科名：石蒜科
水仙花，別名天蔥、雅蒜、金盞銀臺、玉玲瓏。屬石蒜科，多年生鱗莖草花。高20一30釐米。葉基生，線形，扁平。花葶抽出葉間，頂端着花3一8朵，呈傘形花序，花冠口部具黃色盞狀的副花冠，有“金盞銀臺”之稱。花期1一2月。葫果胞背開裂。
水仙爲秋植球根花卉，早春開花並貯藏養分，夏季休眠，性喜溫暖溼潤氣候。水仙花是點綴元旦和春節最重要的冬令時花，其碧葉如帶，芳花似杯，幽香沁人肺腑，常用清水養植，被人們稱爲“凌波仙子” .



Origin: South Western Europe. Grown extensively in the UK - export daffodils to Holland. First cultivated by the Romans.
原產地：西歐南部，最初是由羅馬人種植。

Colour: Over 25,000 varieties in shades of yellow, white, orange and peachy pink.
顏色：超過了25000多個品種，有不同形狀的黃色，白色，桔色以及粉紅色

Availability: Seasonal availability October to April. The Isles of Scilly start the season off in October with the tiny tazetta types. It finishes in April with large trumpet daffodils from Scotland.
種植期：每年10--到第二年4月。

Varieties（種類）: There is a huge number of cultivars, in a range of colours including combinations of white, yellows, oranges and pinks. There are multi-headed tazetta types and some with a strong fragrance. Yellow tazetta narcissi "Soleil d'Or'"and white "Ziva" have the strongest scent, and also make ideal indoor plants as potted bulbs

Mythology（傳說）: Narcissus in Greek legend fell in love with his own reflection in a stream. He stayed transfixed by the stream and the gods thought he would die of starvation so they changed him into the flower to stay there forever.
希臘神話傳說，水仙原是個美男子，他不愛任何一個少女，而有一次，他在一山泉飲水，見到水中自己的影子時，便對自己發生了愛情。當他撲向水中擁抱自己影子時，靈魂便與肉體分離，化爲一株漂亮的水仙……



Zodiac（星座）: They are good flowers for Geminis, who like the daffodil's yellow cheerfulness; and Pisces who appreciate the white narcissi's scented delicacy.

Feng Shui:Feng Shui adherents believe the flower brings good luck for the next twelve months if forced to bloom at New Year.

Language of Flowers（花語）: In Victorian times daffodils signified regard, while narcissi meant self-esteem or even vanity.

Medicinal: Daffodils are being grown for Galanthine, a substance in the bulbs being used to fight Alzheimer's.
水仙鱗莖漿汁有毒，含拉可丁，用作外科鎮痛劑，鱗莖搗爛可敷治癰腫。花作香澤，塗身理髮，去風氣，又療婦人五臟心熱。