FAMILY: Amaryllidaceae
SYNONYMS: Pinkster lily, pheasant’s eye, poet’s narcissus.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A familiar garden flower up to 50 cms high, with long sword-shaped leaves with very fragrant white flowers having a short yellow trumpet and crisped red edge.
DISTRIBUTION: Native to the Middle East or the eastern Mediterranean region; naturalized in southern France. It is cultivated extensively for its flowers. Only Holland and the Grasse region of France produce the concrete and absolute.
OTHER SPECIES: There are two main types produced in France: the cultivated or des plaines variety and the wild or des montagnes type. Narcissus is also closely related to the jonquil (N. jonquilla) and campernella (N. odorus), which are also occasionally used to produce an absolute, as well as to the daffodil (N. pseudo-narcissus).
HERBAL/FOLK TRADITION: The name derives from the Greek narkao – to be numb – due to its narcotic properties. The Roman perfumers used ‘narcissum’, a solid unguent made from narcissus flowers, in the preparation of their elaborate fragrances. In France the flowers were used at one time for their antispasmodic properties, said to be useful in hysteria and epilepsy.
In India the oil is applied to the body before prayer in temples, along with rose, sandalwood and jasmine. The Arabians recommend the oil as a cure for baldness, and as an aphrodisiac.
ACTIONS: Antispasmodic, aphrodisiac, emetic, narcotic, sedative.
EXTRACTION: A concrete and absolute by solvent extraction from the flowers.
CHARACTERISTICS: The absolute is a dark orange, olive or green viscous liquid with a sweet, green-herbaceous odour and heavy floral undertone. It blends well with clove bud, jasmine, neroli, ylang ylang, rose, mimosa, sandalwood, oriental and floral fragrances.
PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS: Quercetin, possibly narcissine (the alkaloid that causes nausea).
SAFETY DATA: All members of the Amaryllidaceae family, especially the bulbs, have a profound effect on the nervous system, causing paralysis and even in some cases death. ‘The bulbs of N. poeticus are more dangerous than those of the daffodil, being powerfully emetic and irritant. The scent of the flowers is deleterious, if they are present in any quantity in a closed room, producing in some persons headache and even vomiting.’.
AROMATHERAPY/HOME: USE Perfume.
OTHER USES: The absolute and concrete are used almost exclusively in high-class perfumes of the narcotic/floral type.
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