It was believed that Narcissus in Greek legend was mesmerized by his own reflection in a water body to such extent that he stood there motionless for days. The gods were afraid that he would starve to death and therefore transformed him into the flower Narcissus. The flower derives its name from the Greek word meaning “numbness” which is suggestive of the strong and addictive scent of the flowers.

Narcissus is the name of the genus which includes white flowers with a distinct smell like daffodils and jonquils and is collectively known as “narcissi”. The daffodils are large yellow flowers shaped like trumpets standing alone at the end of a stalk. Again, varieties of multiple headed small scented white flowers are also available belonging to the same genus. Over 20,000 different varieties of narcissus are found to exist with a wide range of colours which include white, orange, yellow and peach with a tinge of pink.

Having its origin in South Western Europe, narcissus is widely grown in UK and is available from October to April. The small tazetta type of narcissi which is grown in the Isles of Scilly starts blossoming in October which lasts till April. In the Victorian times, daffodils symbolized reverence while narcissi were suggestive of dignity and pride.