Perennial herb with a bulb flowering stem to 40 cm tall

Leaves: long, linear, flat.

Flowers: several, white, with a yellow cup-like center (corona). Tepals six. Stamens six.

Fruit: a capsule with numerous seeds.

Similar species: Quite distinctive.

Flowering: mid-April to late May

Habitat and ecology: Introduced from cultivation. A commonly planted hybrid that occasionally escapes to waste places. It may also persist at abandoned homesites.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Notes: Narcissus species and many of their hybrids and cultivars are among the most popular of spring flowers.

Etymology: Narcissus is the Greek name honoring the young man who become so entranced with his own reflection in a pool of water that the gods turned him into a flower.

Author: The Morton Arboretum