title: "Bolton Abbey" content: dale. There is also a pheasant shoot. Apart from people employed within these businesses, the estate employs about 120 staff to work on the upkeep of the estate. Much of the estate is open to the public. A charge is made for car parking. The Dales Way passes through the estate on a permissive path. Barden Moor and Barden Fell, which includes the prominent crag of Simon's Seat, are on access land, and permissive paths lead up to the moors. Access to the moors may be closed to the public during the shooting season. Bolton Abbey Hall, originally the gatehouse


title: "Bolton Abbey" content: of the priory, was converted into a house by the Cavendish family. The hall is a Grade II* listed building. As well as Bolton Abbey, the Cavendish family also own the Chatsworth (Derbyshire, England) and Lismore Castle (Waterford, in the Republic of Ireland) estates. In the early nineteenth century, a cow known as the Craven Heifer was bred on the Bolton Abbey estate. Weighing 312 stone (1.98 tonnes), and measuring 11 ft 4ins in length and over 7 ft in height, she to this day remains Britain's largest ever cow. The Priory Church of St. Mary and St. Cuthbert, Bolton


title: "Bolton Abbey" content: Abbey, is an active Church of England church, serving the village and parish of Bolton Abbey, with a full calendar of liturgical events, and a full-time rector who lives in the adjacent Rectory. The current church is the surviving part of the otherwise ruined 12th-century Augustinian religious community — originally known as Bolton. It is situated in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, within the Bolton Abbey estate. The remains of the priory can still be seen, and the setting is immortalised in both art and poetry. These include a painting by Edwin Landseer and watercolours by J. M. W. Turner


title: "Bolton Abbey" content: one of which, "Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire" (1809), is held at the British Museum. The young Brontë visited the estate while Landseer was in residence at 'the gatehouse'. (Researching for his painting "Bolton Abbey in Olden Times", the young authors were escorted on an exclusive guided tour by an unnamed 'E'.) The following year Charlotte Brontë exhibited a drawing 'Bolton Abbey' alongside stars of the day at the Royal Northern Festival of Arts, Leeds. When first discovered by Jane Sellars and Christine Alexander in 1994, it was thought based on Turner's view of 1809, but further research, and detail of a


title: "Bolton Abbey" content: drifting heron relates the drawing more closely to Landseer's oil-sketch of the same scene, which shows a heron drifting toward Charlotte's reciprocal bird, as if to embrace. Landseer's sketch was never exhibited or reproduced, it reiterates therefore that the Brontës met the influential artist in 1833. Turner's painting at the British Museum</ref> William Wordsworth's poem "The White Doe of Rylstone" was inspired by a visit to Bolton Abbey in 1807. Bolton Abbey Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England, takes its name from the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian monastery now known as Bolton Priory. The priory, closed in the


title: "Lon Chaney Jr." content: He returned as the Wolf Man in "House of Dracula" (1945), one of the last of the Universal horror cycle. "Pillow of Death" (1945) was the last Inner Sanctum. "The Daltons Ride Again" (1945) was a Western. Despite being typecast as the Wolf Man, the 6-foot 2-inch, 220 pound actor managed to carve out a secondary niche as a supporting actor and villain. He was in a Bob Hope comedy "My Favorite Brunette" (1947), supported Randolph Scott in "Albuquerque" (1948) and had a support in "The Counterfeiters" (1948) and played a villain in "16 Fathoms Deep" (1948) for Monogram Pictures,


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral () is a Church of Norway () cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is built over the burial site of King Olav II of Norway and Saint Olav (c. 995-1030, reigned 1015-1028), the King of Norway in the 11th century, who became the patron saint of the nation, and is the traditional location for the consecration of new Kings of Norway. It was built over a long period of 230 years, from 1070 to 1300 when it was substantially completed. But additional work, additions and renovations continued occasionally intermittently for


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: seven more centuries until 2001, and designated as the cathedral for the Diocese of Nidaros in 1152. After going the turmoil and controversies of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, it was taken from the Catholic Church by the newly reformed established state Church of Norway in 1537, which adopted and following the teachings and reforms of the German Catholic priest, Augustinian friar and university professor Martin Luther (1483-1546), Phillip Melancthon (1497-1560) and others, becoming . Norwegian Christian faith was heavily influenced by the events and theological debates further south in continental Europe in the Holy Roman Empire and


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: German Confederation under Emperor Charles V (1500-1558, reigned 1516-1558). Nidaros is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world. The cathedral is the main church for the "Nidaros og Vår Frue" parish, the seat of the Nidaros domprosti (arch-deanery), and the seat of the Bishop of the Diocese of Nidaros. The Preses of the Church of Norway is also based at this cathedral. The large, stone church seats about 1,850 people and it was historically used as the site of the coronation for the Kings of Norway. Nidaros Cathedral was built beginning in 1070 to memorialize the burial place of Olav


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: II of Norway, the king who was killed in 1030 in the Battle of Stiklestad. He was canonized as Saint Olav a year later by Grimketel, the Bishop of Nidaros (the canonization was later confirmed by the pope). It was designated the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537 under the Reformation. Since the Reformation, it has served as the cathedral of the Lutheran bishops of Trondheim (or Nidaros) in the Diocese of Nidaros. The architectural style of the cathedral is Romanesque and Gothic. Historically it has been an important


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: destination for pilgrims coming from all of Northern Europe. Along with Vår Frue Church, the cathedral is part of the "Nidaros og Vår Frue" parish in the Nidaros deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros. Work on the cathedral as a memorial to St. Olav started in 1070. It was finished some time around 1300, nearly 150 years after being established as the cathedral of the diocese. The cathedral was badly damaged by fires in 1327 and again in 1531. The nave was destroyed and was not rebuilt until the restoration in early 1900s. In 1708, the church burned down completely


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: except for the stone walls. It was struck by lightning in 1719, and was again ravaged by fire. Major rebuilding and restoration of the cathedral started in 1869, initially led by architect Heinrich Ernst Schirmer, and nearly completed by Christian Christie. It was officially completed in 2001. Maintenance of the cathedral is an ongoing process. The oldest parts of the cathedral consist of the octagon with its surrounding ambulatory. This was the site of the original high altar, with the reliquary casket of Saint Olav, and choir. Design of the octagon may have been inspired by the Corona of Canterbury


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: Cathedral, although octagonal shrines have a long history in Christian architecture. Similarly, the choir shows English influence, and appears to have been modeled after the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral. It is joined to the octagon by a stone screen that fills the entire east side of the choir. The principal arch of this screen is subdivided into three subsidiary arches: the central arch frames a statue of Christ the Teacher, standing on the top of a central arch of three subsidiary arches below him. The space above the principal arch, corresponding to the vault of the choir, contains a


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: crucifix by the Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland, placed between statues of the Virgin Mary and the Apostle John. Built into the south side of the ambulatory is a small well. A bucket could be lowered to draw up water drawn from the spring that originated from St. Olav's original burial place. (This was covered over by the construction of later cathedrals). The present cathedral has two principal altars. At the east end of the chancel in the octagon is an altar at the site of the medieval high altar, behind which stood the silver reliquary casket containing the remains of


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: St. Olav. This silver-gilt reliquary casket was melted down for coinage by Christian II and St. Olav's remains buried in an unknown location under the cathedral. The only relic known to have survived is a femur in a silver-gilt reliquary. Shaped as a forearm, it was given by Queen Josephine to St. Olav Catholic Cathedral in Oslo. The original reliquary casket was in the form of a church, with dragon heads on its gables. The dragons are similar to those carved on the gables of Norwegian stave churches. Surviving medieval reliquary caskets in Norway frequently also bear such dragon heads,


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: for instance, that at Heddal stave church. He was the church's and the kingdom's patron saint. The current altar was designed to recall in marble sculpture the essential form of this reliquary casket. It replaces the previous baroque altar, which was transferred to Vår Frue Church. The second altar is in the crossing, where the transept intersects the nave and the chancel. It bears a large modern silver crucifix. It was commissioned and paid for by Norwegian American emigrants in the early twentieth century, and the design was inspired by the memory of a similar silver crucifix in the medieval


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: church. The medieval chapter house may also be used as a chapel for smaller groups of worshipers. All the stained glass in the cathedral dates from its rebuilding in the 19th and 20th centuries. The windows on the north side of the church depict scenes from the Old Testament against a blue background, while those on the south side of the church depict scenes from the New Testament against a red background. Two organs are installed in the Cathedral. The main organ was built by the Steinmeyer firm in 1930, and was erected in the north transept. It then had


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: 125 stops. Installation of the Steinmeyer organ was commissioned in 1930 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Stiklestad. The organ was funded mostly by donations, particularly by Elias Anton Cappelen Smith. In 1962, the organ was heavily rebuilt and moved to the west nave. Many stops were removed; some of them were used to build a new choir organ. This organ was fully restored in 2014. The old Baroque organ built by noted German organ builder Johann Joachim Wagner (1690–1749) during the period 1738–40 was carefully restored by Jürgen Ahrend between 1993–94. It has 30 stops and is


title: "Nidaros Cathedral" content: located at a gallery in the north transept. Today, the cathedral is a popular tourist attraction. Nidaros Cathedral is the site of the observation of Olav's Wake (). This religious and cultural festival is centered upon the anniversary of the death of Saint Olav at the Battle of Stiklestad. Tourists often follow the historic Pilgrim's Route () to visit the cathedral for this and other events. The cathedral is also familiar to enthusiasts of Norwegian Black metal, as it is featured on the cover artwork of "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", the 1994 studio album by Mayhem. Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a monumental country house in Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and 1722, and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The palace is named for the 1704 Battle of Blenheim, and thus ultimately after Blindheim (also known as Blenheim) in Bavaria. It was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough for his


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: military triumphs against the French and Bavarians in the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the Battle of Blenheim. Soon after construction began it became the subject of political infighting, leading to Marlborough's exile, the fall from power of his duchy and lasting damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s. It is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is notable as the birthplace


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill. Following the palace's completion, it became the home of the Churchill (later Spencer-Churchill) family for the next 300 years, and various members of the family have wrought changes to the interiors, park and gardens. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlborough's marriage to American railroad heiress, Consuelo Vanderbilt. John Churchill was born in Devon. Although his family had aristocratic relations, it belonged to the minor gentry rather than the upper echelons of 17th-century society. In 1678, Churchill married


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Sarah Jennings, and in April that year, he was sent by Charles II to The Hague to negotiate a convention on the deployment of the English army in Flanders. The mission ultimately proved abortive. In May, Churchill was appointed the temporary rank of Brigadier-General of Foot, but the possibility of a continental campaign was eliminated with the Treaty of Nijmegen. When Churchill returned to England, the Popish Plot resulted in a temporary three-year banishment for James Stuart, Duke of York. The Duke obliged Churchill to attend him, first to The Hague, then in Brussels. For his services during the crisis


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Churchill was made Lord Churchill of Eyemouth in the peerage of Scotland in 1682, and the following year appointed colonel of the King's Own Royal Regiment of Dragoons. On the death of Charles II in 1685, his brother, the Duke of York, became King James II. On James's succession Churchill was appointed governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. He had also been affirmed Gentleman of the Bedchamber in April, and admitted to the English peerage as Baron Churchill of Sandridge in the county of Hertfordshire in May. Following the Monmouth Rebellion, Churchill was promoted to Major General and awarded the


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: lucrative colonelcy of the Third Troop of Life Guards. When William, Prince of Orange, invaded England in November 1688, Churchill, accompanied by some 400 officers and men, rode to join him in Axminster. When the King saw he could not even keep Churchill—for so long his loyal and intimate servant—he fled to France. As part of William III's coronation honours Churchill was created Earl of Marlborough, sworn to the Privy Council, and made a Gentleman of the King's Bedchamber. During the War of the Spanish Succession Churchill gained a reputation as a capable military commander, and in 1702 he was


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: elevated to the dukedom of Marlborough. During the war he won a series of victories, including the Battle of Blenheim (1704), the Battle of Ramillies (1706), the Battle of Oudenarde (1708), and the Battle of Malplaquet (1709). For his victory at Blenheim, the Crown bestowed upon Marlborough the tenancy of the royal manor of Hensington (situated on the site of Woodstock) to site the new palace, and Parliament voted a substantial sum of money towards its creation. The rent or "petit serjeanty" due to the Crown for the land was set at the peppercorn rent or quit-rent of one copy


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: of the French royal flag to be tendered to the Monarch annually on the anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim. This flag is displayed by the Monarch on a 17th-century French writing table in Windsor Castle. Marlborough's wife was by all accounts a cantankerous woman, though capable of great charm. She had befriended the young Princess Anne and later, when the princess became Queen, the Duchess of Marlborough, as Her Majesty's Mistress of the Robes, exerted great influence over the Queen on both personal and political levels. The relationship between Queen and Duchess later became strained and fraught, and following


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: their final quarrel in 1711, the money for the construction of Blenheim ceased. For political reasons the Marlboroughs went into exile on the Continent until they returned the day after the Queen's death on 1 August 1714. The estate given by the nation to Marlborough for the new palace was the manor of Woodstock, sometimes called the Palace of Woodstock, which had been a royal demesne, in reality little more than a deer park. Legend has obscured the manor's origins. King Henry I enclosed the park to contain the deer. Henry II housed his mistress Rosamund Clifford (sometimes known as


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: "Fair Rosamund") there in a "bower and labyrinth"; a spring in which she is said to have bathed remains, named after her. It seems the unostentatious hunting lodge was rebuilt many times, and had an uneventful history until Elizabeth I, before her succession, was imprisoned there by her half-sister Mary I between 1554 and 1555. Elizabeth had been implicated in the Wyatt plot, but her imprisonment at Woodstock was short, and the manor remained in obscurity until bombarded and ruined by Oliver Cromwell's troops during the Civil War. When the park was being re-landscaped as a setting for the palace


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the 1st Duchess wanted the historic ruins demolished, while Vanbrugh, an early conservationist, wanted them restored and made into a landscape feature. The Duchess, as so often in her disputes with her architect, won the day and the remains of the manor were swept away. The architect selected for the ambitious project was a controversial one. The Duchess was known to favour Sir Christopher Wren, famous for St Paul's Cathedral and many other national buildings. The Duke however, following a chance meeting at a playhouse, is said to have commissioned Sir John Vanbrugh there and then. Vanbrugh, a popular dramatist,


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: was an untrained architect, who usually worked in conjunction with the trained and practical Nicholas Hawksmoor. The duo had recently completed the first stages of the Baroque Castle Howard. This huge Yorkshire mansion was one of England's first houses in the flamboyant European Baroque style. The success of Castle Howard led Marlborough to commission something similar at Woodstock. Blenheim, however, was not to provide Vanbrugh with the architectural plaudits he imagined it would. The fight over funding led to accusations of extravagance and impracticality of design, many of these charges levelled by the Whig factions in power. He found no


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: defender in the Duchess of Marlborough. Having been foiled in her wish to employ Wren, she levelled criticism at Vanbrugh on every level, from design to taste. In part their problems arose from what was demanded of the architect. The nation (which was then assumed, by both architect and owners, to be paying the bills) wanted a monument, but the Duchess wanted not only a fitting tribute to her husband but also a comfortable home, two requirements that were not compatible in 18th-century architecture. Finally, in the early days of the building the Duke was frequently away on his military


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: campaigns, and it was left to the Duchess to negotiate with Vanbrugh. More aware than her husband of the precarious state of the financial aid they were receiving, she criticised Vanbrugh's grandiose ideas for their extravagance. Following their final altercation, Vanbrugh was banned from the site. In 1719, whilst the Duchess was away, Vanbrugh viewed the palace in secret. However, when his wife visited the completed Blenheim as a member of the viewing public in 1725, the Duchess refused his wife admission even to enter the park. Vanbrugh's severe massed Baroque used at Blenheim never truly caught the public imagination,


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: and was quickly superseded by the revival of the Palladian style. Vanbrugh's reputation was irreparably damaged, and he received no further truly great public commissions. For his final design, Seaton Delaval Hall, which was hailed as his masterpiece, he used a refined version of the Baroque employed at Blenheim. He died shortly before its completion. The precise responsibility for the funding of the new palace has always been a debatable subject, unresolved to this day. The palace as a reward was mooted within months of the Battle of Blenheim, at a time when Marlborough was still to gain many further


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: victories on behalf of the country. That a grateful nation led by Queen Anne wished and intended to give their national hero a suitable home is beyond doubt, but the exact size and nature of that house is questionable. A warrant dated 1705, signed by the parliamentary treasurer the Earl of Godolphin, appointed Vanbrugh as architect and outlined his remit. Unfortunately for the Churchills, nowhere did this warrant mention Queen or Crown. The Duke of Marlborough contributed £60,000 to the initial cost when work commenced in 1705, which, supplemented by Parliament, should have built a monumental house. Parliament voted funds


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: for the building of Blenheim, but no exact sum was mentioned nor provision for inflation or over-budget expenses. Almost from the outset, funds were spasmodic. Queen Anne paid some of them, but with growing reluctance and lapses, following her frequent altercations with the Duchess. After their final argument in 1712, all state money ceased and work came to a halt. £220,000 had already been spent and £45,000 was owing to workmen. The Marlboroughs were forced into exile on the continent, and did not return until after the Queen's death in 1714. On their return the Duke and Duchess came back


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: into favour at court. The 64-year-old Duke now decided to complete the project at his own expense. In 1716 work resumed, but the project relied completely upon the limited means of the Duke himself. Harmony on the building site was short-lived, as in 1717 the Duke suffered a severe stroke, and the thrifty Duchess took control. The Duchess blamed Vanbrugh entirely for the growing costs and extravagance of the palace, the design of which she had never liked. Following a meeting with the Duchess, Vanbrugh left the building site in a rage, insisting that the new masons, carpenters and craftsmen,


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: brought in by the Duchess, were inferior to those he had employed. The master craftsmen he had patronised, however, such as Grinling Gibbons, refused to work for the lower rates paid by the Marlboroughs. The craftsmen brought in by the Duchess, under the guidance of furniture designer James Moore, and Vanbrugh's assistant architect Hawksmoor, completed the work in perfect imitation of the greater masters. Following the Duke's death in 1722, completion of the palace and its park became the Duchess's driving ambition. Vanbrugh's assistant Hawksmoor was recalled and in 1723 designed the "Arch of Triumph", based on the Arch of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Titus, at the entrance to the park from Woodstock. Hawksmoor also completed the interior design of the library, the ceilings of many of the state rooms and other details in numerous other minor rooms, and various outbuildings. Cutting rates of pay to workmen, and using lower-quality materials in unobtrusive places, the widowed Duchess completed the great house as a tribute to her late husband. The final date of completion is not known, but as late as 1735 the Duchess was haggling with Rysbrack over the cost of Queen Anne's statue placed in the library. In 1732 the Duchess wrote "The


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Chappel is finish'd and more than half the Tomb there ready to set up". Vanbrugh planned Blenheim in perspective; that is, to be best viewed from a distance. As the site covers some seven acres (28,000 m²) this is also a necessity. The plan of the palace's principal block (or corps de logis) is a rectangle ("see plan") pierced by two courtyards; these serve as little more than light wells. Contained behind the southern facade are the principal state apartments; on the east side are the suites of private apartments of the Duke and Duchess, and on the west along


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the entire length of the "piano nobile" is given a long gallery originally conceived as a picture gallery, but is now the library. The corps de logis is flanked by two further service blocks around square courtyards ("not shown in the plan"). The east court contains the kitchens, laundry, and other domestic offices, the west court adjacent to the chapel the stables and indoor riding school. The three blocks together form the "Great Court" designed to overpower the visitor arriving at the palace. Pilasters and pillars abound, while from the roofs, themselves resembling those of a small town, great statues


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: in the Renaissance manner of St Peter's in Rome gaze down on the visitor below, who is rendered inconsequential. Other assorted statuary in the guise of martial trophies decorate the roofs, most notably Britannia standing atop the entrance pediment in front of two reclining chained French captives sculpted in the style of Michelangelo, and the English lion devouring the French cock, on the lower roofs. Many of these are by such masters as Grinling Gibbons. In the design of great 18th-century houses comfort and convenience were subservient to magnificence, and this is certainly the case at Blenheim. This magnificence over


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: creature comfort is heightened as the architect's brief was to create not only a home but also a national monument to reflect the power and civilisation of the nation. To create this monumental effect, Vanbrugh chose to design in a severe Baroque style, using great masses of stone to imitate strength and create shadow as decoration. The solid and huge entrance portico on the north front resembles more the entrance to a pantheon than a family home. Vanbrugh also liked to employ what he called his "castle air", which he achieved by placing a low tower at each corner of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the central block and crowning the towers with vast belvederes of massed stone, decorated with curious finials (disguising the chimneys). Coincidentally these towers, which hint at the pylons of an Egyptian temple, further add to the heroic pantheonesque atmosphere of the building. There are two approaches to the palace's grand entrance, one from the long straight drive through wrought iron gates directly into the Great Court; the other, equally if not more impressive, betrays Vanbrugh's true vision: the palace as a bastion or citadel, the true monument and home to a great warrior. Piercing the windowless, city-like curtain wall of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the east court is the great East Gate, a monumental triumphal arch, more Egyptian in design than Roman. An optical illusion was created by tapering its walls to create an impression of even greater height. Confounding those who accuse Vanbrugh of impracticality, this gate is also the palace's water tower. Through the arch of the gate one views across the courtyard a second equally massive gate, that beneath the clock tower, through which one glimpses the Great Court. This view of the Duke as an omnipotent being is also reflected in the interior design of the palace, and indeed its


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: axis to certain features in the park. It was planned that when the Duke dined in state in his place of honour in the great saloon, he would be the climax of a great procession of architectural mass aggrandising him rather like a proscenium. The line of celebration and honour of his victorious life began with the great column of victory surmounted by his statue and detailing his triumphs, and the next point on the great axis, planted with trees in the position of troops, was the epic Roman style bridge. The approach continues through the great portico into the


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: hall, its ceiling painted by James Thornhill with the Duke's apotheosis, then on under a great triumphal arch, through the huge marble door-case with the Duke's marble effigy above it (bearing the ducal plaudit "Nor could Augustus better calm mankind"), and into the painted saloon, the most highly decorated room in the palace, where the Duke was to have sat enthroned. The Duke was to have sat with his back to the great 30-tonne marble bust of his vanquished foe Louis XIV, positioned high above the south portico. Here the defeated King was humiliatingly forced to look down on the


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: great parterre and spoils of his conqueror (rather in the same way as severed heads were displayed generations earlier). The Duke did not live long enough to see this majestic tribute realised, and sit enthroned in this architectural vision. The Duke and Duchess moved into their apartments on the eastern side of the palace, but the entirety was not completed until after the Duke's death. The palace has been Grade I listed on the National Heritage List for England since August 1957. The palace chapel, as a consequence of the Duke's death, now obtained even greater importance. The design was


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: altered by the Marlboroughs' friend the Earl of Godolphin, who placed the high altar in defiance of religious convention against the west wall, thus allowing the dominating feature to be the Duke's gargantuan tomb and sarcophagus. Commissioned by the Duchess in 1730, it was designed by William Kent, and statues of the Duke and Duchess depicted as Caesar and Caesarina adorn the great sarcophagus. In bas relief at the base of the tomb, the Duchess ordered to be depicted the surrender of Marshal Tallard. However, the theme throughout the palace of honouring the Duke did not reach its apotheosis until


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the dowager duchess's death in 1744. Then, the Duke's coffin was returned to Blenheim from its temporary resting place, Westminster Abbey, and husband and wife were interred together and the tomb erected and completed. Now Blenheim had indeed become a pantheon and mausoleum. Successive Dukes and their wives are also interred in the vault beneath the chapel. Other members of family are interred in St. Martin's parish churchyard at Bladon, a short distance from the palace. The internal layout of the rooms of the central block at Blenheim was defined by the court etiquette of the day. State apartments were


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: designed as an axis of rooms of increasing importance and public use, leading to the chief room. The larger houses, like Blenheim, had two sets of state apartments each mirroring each other. The grandest and most public and important was the central saloon "("B" in the plan") which served as the communal state dining room. To either side of the saloon are suites of state apartments, decreasing in importance but increasing in privacy: the first room "("C")" would have been an audience chamber for receiving important guests, the next room "("L")" a private withdrawing room, the next room "("M")" would


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: have been the bedroom of the occupier of the suite, thus the most private. One of the small rooms between the bedroom and the internal courtyard was intended as a dressing room. This arrangement is reflected on the other side of the saloon. The state apartments were intended for use only by the most important guests such as a visiting sovereign. On the left (east) side of the plan on either side of the bow room "(marked "O")" can be seen a smaller but nearly identical layout of rooms, which were the suites of the Duke and Duchess themselves. Thus,


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the bow room corresponds exactly to the saloon in terms of its importance to the two smaller suites. Blenheim Palace was the birthplace of the 1st Duke's famous descendant, Winston Churchill, whose life and times are commemorated by a permanent exhibition in the suite of rooms in which he was born "(marked "K" on the plan)". Blenheim Palace was designed with all its principal and secondary rooms on the "piano nobile", thus there is no great staircase of state: anyone worthy of such state would have no cause to leave the "piano nobile". Insofar as Blenheim does have a grand


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: staircase, it is the series of steps in the Great Court which lead to the North Portico. There are staircases of various sizes and grandeur in the central block, but none are designed on the same scale of magnificence as the palace. James Thornhill painted the ceiling of the hall in 1716. It depicts Marlborough kneeling to Britannia and proffering a map of the Battle of Blenheim. The hall is high, and remarkable chiefly for its size and for its stone carvings by Gibbons, yet in spite of its immense size it is merely a vast anteroom to the saloon.


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: The saloon was also to have been painted by Thornhill, but the Duchess suspected him of overcharging, so the commission was given to Louis Laguerre. This room is an example of three-dimensional painting, or "trompe l'œil", "trick-the-eye", a fashionable painting technique at the time. The Peace Treaty of Utrecht was about to be signed, so all the elements in the painting represent the coming of peace. The domed ceiling is an allegorical representation of Peace: John Churchill is in the chariot, he holds a zigzag thunderbolt of war, and the woman who holds back his arm represents Peace. The walls


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: depict all the nations of the world who have come together peacefully. Laguerre also included a self-portrait placing himself next to Dean Jones, chaplain to the 1st Duke, another enemy of the Duchess, although she tolerated him in the household because he could play a good hand at cards. To the right of the doorway leading into the first stateroom, Laguerre included the French spies, said to have big ears and eyes because they may still be spying. Of the four marble door-cases in the room displaying the Duke's crest as a prince of the Holy Roman Empire, only one


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: is by Gibbons, the other three were copied indistinguishably by the Duchess's cheaper craftsmen. The third remarkable room is the long library designed by Christopher Wren, "(H)", long, which was intended as a picture gallery. The ceiling has saucer domes, which were to have been painted by Thornhill, had the Duchess not upset him. The palace, and in particular this room, was furnished with the many valuable artefacts the Duke had been given, or sequestered as the spoils of war, including a fine art collection. Here in the library, rewriting history in her own indomitable style, the Duchess set up


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: a larger than life statue of Queen Anne, its base recording their friendship. From the northern end of the library—in which is housed the largest pipe organ in private ownership in Europe, built by England's great organ builder Henry Willis & Sons—access is obtained to the raised colonnade which leads to the chapel "(H)". The chapel is perfectly balanced on the eastern side of the palace by the vaulted kitchen. This symmetrical balancing and equal weight given to both spiritual and physical nourishment would no doubt have appealed to Vanbrugh's renowned sense of humour, if not the Duchess's. The distance


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: of the kitchen from even the private dining room "("O" on the plan)" was obviously of no consideration, hot food being of less importance than to avoid having to inhale the odour of cooking and proximity of servants. The Long Library organ was built in 1891 by the famous London firm of Henry Willis & Sons at a cost of £3,669. It replaced a previous organ built in 1888 by Isaac Abbott of Leeds, which was removed to St Swithun's church, Hither Green. Originally erected in the central bay, with its back to the water terraces, the Norwich firm of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: Norman & Beard moved it to the northwestern end of the library in 1902 and made a few tonal additions and, the following year, cleaned it. No further changes were made until 1930, when the Willis firm lowered the pitch to modern concert pitch: a Welte automatic player was added in 1931, with 70 rolls cut by Marcel Dupré, Joseph Bonnet, Alfred Hollins, Edwin Lemare and Harry Goss-Custard also being supplied. This remained in use for some time: the Duke of the time is said to have frequently sat at the organ bench and pretended to play the organ to


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: his guests and they would applaud at the end. This practice is said to have been halted abruptly when the player started before the Duke had reached the organ. This famous instrument is regularly maintained and is played by visiting organists throughout the year, but its condition is declining: a fundraising campaign has been launched for its complete restoration. The organ in the chapel was built circa 1853 by Robert Postill of York: it is notable as a rare unaltered example of this fine builder's work, speaking boldly and clearly into a generous acoustic. Blenheim sits in the centre of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: a large undulating park, a classic example of the English landscape garden movement and style. When Vanbrugh first cast his eyes over it in 1704 he immediately conceived a typically grandiose plan: through the park trickled the small River Glyme, and Vanbrugh envisaged this marshy brook traversed by the "finest bridge in Europe". Thus, ignoring the second opinion offered by Sir Christopher Wren, the marsh was channelled into three small canal-like streams and across it rose a bridge of huge proportions, so huge it was reported to contain some 30-odd rooms. While the bridge was indeed an amazing wonder, in


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: this setting it appeared incongruous, causing Alexander Pope to comment: "the minnows, as under this vast arch they pass, murmur, 'how like whales we look, thanks to your Grace.'" Horace Walpole saw it in 1760, shortly before Capability Brown's improvements: "the bridge, like the beggars at the old duchess's gate, begs for a drop of water and is refused." Another of Vanbrugh's schemes was the great parterre, nearly half a mile long and as wide as the south front. Also in the park, completed after the 1st Duke's death, is the "Column of Victory". It is high and terminates a


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: great avenue of elms leading to the palace, which were planted in the positions of Marlborough's troops at the Battle of Blenheim. Vanbrugh had wanted an obelisk to mark the site of the former royal manor, and the trysts of Henry II which had taken place there, causing the 1st Duchess to remark, "If there were obelisks to bee made of all what our Kings have done of that sort, the countrey would bee stuffed with very odd things" ("sic"). The obelisk was never realised. Following the 1st Duke's death the Duchess concentrated most of her considerable energies on the


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: completion of the palace itself, and the park remained relatively unchanged until the arrival of Capability Brown in 1764. The 4th Duke employed Brown who immediately began an English landscape garden scheme to naturalise and enhance the landscape, with tree planting, and man-made undulations. However, the feature with which he is forever associated is the lake, a huge stretch of water created by damming the River Glyme and ornamented by a series of cascades where the river flows in and out. The lake was narrowed at the point of Vanbrugh's grand bridge, but the three small canal-like streams trickling underneath


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: it were completely absorbed by one river-like stretch. Brown's great achievement at this point was to actually flood and submerge beneath the water level the lower stories and rooms of the bridge itself, thus reducing its incongruous height and achieving what is regarded by many as the epitome of an English landscape. Brown also grassed over the great parterre and the Great Court. The latter was re-paved by Duchene in the early 20th century. The 5th Duke was responsible for several other garden follies and novelties. Sir William Chambers, assisted by John Yenn, was responsible for the small summerhouse known


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: as "The Temple of Diana" down by the lake, where in 1908 Winston Churchill proposed to his future wife. The extensive landscaped park, woodlands and formal gardens of Blenheim are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. On the death of the 1st Duke in 1722, as both his sons were dead, he was succeeded by his daughter Henrietta. This was an unusual succession and required a special Act of Parliament, as only sons can usually succeed to a dukedom. When Henrietta died, the title passed to Marlborough's grandson Charles Spencer, Earl of Sunderland, whose mother


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: was Marlborough's second daughter Anne. The 1st Duke as a soldier was not a rich man, and what fortune he possessed was mostly used for finishing the palace. In comparison with other British ducal families the Marlboroughs were not very wealthy. Yet they existed quite comfortably until the time of the 5th Duke of Marlborough (1766–1840), a spendthrift who considerably depleted the family's remaining fortune. He was eventually forced to sell other family estates, but Blenheim was safe from him as it was entailed. This did not prevent him selling the Marlboroughs' Boccaccio for a mere £875, and his own


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: library in over 4000 lots. On his death in 1840, his profligacy left the estate and family with financial problems. By the 1870s the Marlboroughs were in severe financial trouble, and in 1875 the 7th Duke sold the "Marriage of Cupid and Psyche", together with the famed Marlborough gems, at auction for £10,000. However this was not enough to save the family. In 1880 the 7th Duke was forced to petition Parliament to break the protective entail on the Palace and its contents. This was achieved under the Blenheim Settled Estates Act of 1880, and the door was now open


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: for wholesale dispersal of Blenheim and its contents. The first victim was the great Sunderland Library which was sold in 1882, including such volumes as "The Epistles of Horace", printed at Caen in 1480, and the works of Josephus, printed at Verona in 1648. The 18,000 volumes raised almost £60,000. The sales continued to denude the palace: Raphael's "Ansidei Madonna" was sold for £70,000; Van Dyck's Equestrian Portrait of Charles I realised £17,500; and finally the "piece de resistance" of the collection, Peter Paul Rubens' "Rubens, His Wife Helena Fourment, and Their Son Peter Paul, and Their Son Frans (1633–1678)",


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: which had been given by the city of Brussels to the 1st Duke in 1704, was also sold, and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. These sums of money, vast by the standards of the day, failed to cover the debts, and the maintenance of the great palace remained beyond the Marlboroughs' resources. These had always been small in relation to their ducal rank and the size of their house. The British agricultural depression which started in the 1870s added to the family's problems. When the 9th Duke inherited in 1892, the land was


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: generating dwindling income. Charles, 9th Duke of Marlborough (1871–1934) can be credited with saving both the palace and the family. Inheriting the near-bankrupt dukedom in 1892, he was forced to find a quick and drastic solution to the problems. Prevented by the strict social dictates of late 19th-century society from earning money, he was left with one solution: he had to marry money. In November 1896 he coldly and openly without love married the American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. The marriage was celebrated following lengthy negotiations with her divorced parents: her mother, Alva Vanderbilt, was desperate to see her daughter


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: a duchess, and the bride's father, William Vanderbilt, paid for the privilege. The final price was $2,500,000 (worth about $62m in 2007) in 50,000 shares of the capital stock of the Beech Creek Railway Company with a minimum 4% dividend guaranteed by the New York Central Railroad Company. The couple were given a further annual income each of $100,000 for life. The bride later claimed she had been locked in her room until she agreed to the marriage. The contract was actually signed in the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New York, immediately after the wedding vows had been


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: made. In the carriage leaving the church, Marlborough told Consuelo he loved another woman, and would never return to America, as he "despised anything that was not British". The replenishing of Blenheim began on the honeymoon itself, with the replacement of the Marlborough gems. Tapestries, paintings and furniture were bought in Europe to fill the depleted palace. On their return the Duke began an exhaustive restoration and redecoration of the palace. The state rooms to the west of the saloon were redecorated with gilt boiseries in imitation of Versailles. Vanbrugh's subtle rivalry to Louis XIV's great palace was now completely


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: undermined, as the interiors became mere pastiches of those of the greater palace. While this redecoration may not have been without fault (and the Duke later regretted it), other improvements were better received. Another problem caused by the redecoration was that the state and principal bedrooms were now moved upstairs, thus rendering the state rooms an enfilade of rather similar and meaningless drawing rooms. On the west terrace the French landscape architect Achille Duchêne was employed to create a water garden. On a second terrace below this were placed two great fountains in the style of Bernini, scaled models of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: those in the Piazza Navona which had been presented to the 1st Duke. Blenheim was once again a place of wonder and prestige. However, Consuelo was far from happy; she records many of her problems in her cynical and often less than candid biography "The Glitter and the Gold". In 1906 she shocked society and left her husband, finally divorcing in 1921. She subsequently married a Frenchman, Jacques Balsan. She died in 1964, having lived to see her son become Duke of Marlborough, and frequently returning to Blenheim, the house she had hated and yet saved, albeit as the unwilling


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: sacrifice. After his divorce the Duke married again, to a former friend of Consuelo, Gladys Deacon, another American. This eccentric lady was of an artistic disposition, and a painting of her eyes still remains on the ceiling of the great north portico ("see secondary lead image"). A lower terrace was decorated with sphinxes modelled on Gladys and executed by W. Ward Willis in 1930. Before her marriage while staying with the Marlboroughs she had caused a diplomatic incident by encouraging the young Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany to form an attachment. The prince had given her an heirloom ring, which


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: the combined diplomatic services of two empires were charged to recover. After her marriage Gladys was in the habit of dining with the Duke with a revolver by the side of her plate. Tiring of her the Duke was temporarily forced to close Blenheim, and turn off the utilities to drive her out. They subsequently separated but did not divorce. The Duke died in 1934 and his widow in 1977. The 9th Duke was succeeded by his and Consuelo Vanderbilt's eldest son: John, 10th Duke of Marlborough (1897–1972), who after eleven years as a widower, remarried at the age of


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: 74, to (Frances) Laura Charteris, formerly the wife of the 2nd Viscount Long and the 3rd Earl of Dudley, and granddaughter of the 11th Earl of Wemyss. The marriage was short-lived, however; the Duke died just six weeks later, on 11 March 1972. The bereaved Duchess complained of "the gloom and inhospitality of Blenheim" after his death, and soon moved out. In her autobiography, "Laughter from a Cloud" (1980), she referred to Blenheim Palace as "The Dump". She died in London in 1990. During the war the 10th Duke welcomed the boys from Malvern College as evacuees, and in September


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: 1940 allowed MI5 to use the palace as a base. The palace remains the home of the Dukes of Marlborough, the present incumbent of the title being Charles James (Jamie) Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough. Charles James succeeded the Dukedom upon his father's death on 16 October 2014. , the Marlboroughs still have to tender a copy of the French royal flag to the Monarch on the anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim as rent for the land that Blenheim Palace stands on. The palace, park, and gardens are open to the public on payment of an entry fee (maximum


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: £24.90 ). Separation of tourist entertainment attractions (the "Pleasure Gardens") from the palace ensures that the atmosphere of a large country house is retained. The palace is linked to the gardens by a miniature railway, the Blenheim Park Railway. Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill, the brother of the current Duke, wished to feature a contemporary art programme within the historic setting of the palace where he spent his childhood. He founded Blenheim Art Foundation (BAF), a non-profit organisation, to present large-scale contemporary art exhibitions. BAF launched on 1 October 2014 with the UK's largest ever exhibition by Ai Weiwei. The foundation was


title: "Blenheim Palace" content: conceived to give a vast number of people access to innovative contemporary artists working in the context of this historic palace. The public have free access to about five miles (8 km) of public rights of way through the Great Park area of the grounds, which are accessible from Old Woodstock and from the Oxfordshire Way, and which are close to the Column of Victory. Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a monumental country house in Blenheim, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to


title: Acura content: European and Japanese market Honda Accord loaded with features. This model became the only 4-cylinder sedan in Acura's line-up (with the exception of the Canadian market Acura CSX, which replaced the EL in 2006). In 2005, a new RL was introduced with a V6, improved styling, and Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD), a system capable of sending almost all of the RL's power to just one wheel in a turn. The second-generation RL appeared on "Car and Driver"'s Ten Best list for 2005, and also garnered an CNET.com "Editor's Choice" When the RL was introduced, it did not perceive Acura


title: Acura content: States as a 2013 model. Also in 2012, Acura "reinvented" another model, The RDX concept. For the new model, Acura dropped the 4 cylinder turbo for a 3.5L V6. When the official 2013 Acura RDX was released, it was relatively similar to the concept but had changes in wheels, taillights, and some other cosmetics. A lot of this Acura looks like its brother the ILX. The 2013 RDX doesn't have the SH-AWD system instead it has "AWD with intelligent control", similar to the CR-V's AWD system. The RDX is now available with BASE, BASE AWD, TECH., and TECH AWD. In


title: "Groundhog Day (film)" content: border, because Punxsutawney "didn't have a town center that looked good on camera", according to Ramis, and because Punxsutawney's remote location magnified the logistical problems and expense of filming there. Woodstock was a suitable replacement for Pennsylvania in the winter months; further, Ramis knew the area as a Chicago native and recognized it would be easy to obtain licenses to film there and operate the film's production during the winter months. Punxsutawney officials, miffed that their town had been passed over, refused to allow the real Punxsutawney Phil to appear in the movie, but sent representatives to Woodstock to make


title: "Rupert Sheldrake" content: and its inconsistency with established scientific theories. The idea of morphic resonance is also seen as lacking scientific credibility because it is overly vague and unfalsifiable. Furthermore, Sheldrake's experimental methods have been criticised for being poorly designed and subject to experimenter bias. His analyses of results have also drawn criticism. Sheldrake's ideas have been discussed in academic journals and books. His work has also received popular coverage through newspapers, radio, television and speaking engagements. The attention he receives has raised concerns that it adversely affects the public understanding of science. Some have accused Sheldrake of self-promotion, with Steven Rose commenting,


title: "Sense and Sensibility (film)" content: Park early in the film for viewers to remember when they see their few staff at Barton Cottage. Lee also sought to emphasise social class and the limitations it placed on the protagonists. Lee conveys this in part when Willoughby publicly rejects Marianne; he returns to a more lavishly furnished room, a symbol of the wealth she has lost. "Family dramas," he stated, "are all about conflict, about family obligations versus free will." The film's theme of class has attracted much scholarly attention. Carole Dole noted that class constitutes an important element in Austen's stories and is "impossible" to avoid


title: "Annam (French protectorate)" content: was procured for him by Pigneau de Béhaine, titular bishop of Adran, who saw in the political condition of Annam a means of establishing French influence in Indochina and counterbalancing the English power in India. Before this, in 1787, Gia Long had concluded a treaty with Louis XVI, whereby in return for a promise of aid he ceded Tourane and Pulo-Condore to the French. That treaty marks the beginning of French influence in Indochina. After conquering Cochinchina in 1858–1862, the French resumed in 1883 their expansion in Southern Asia. The first protectorate treaty was signed in 1883, although it was


title: Etymologiae content: further notes as "most striking" that Isidore never mentions three out of his four principal sources (the one he does name being Pliny): Cassiodorus, Servius and Solinus. Conversely, he names Pythagoras eight times, even though Pythagoras wrote no books. The "Etymologies" are thus "complacently derivative". In book II, dealing with dialectic and rhetoric, Isidore is heavily indebted to translations from the Greek by Boethius, and in book III, he is similarly in debt to Cassiodorus, who provided the gist of Isidore's treatment of arithmetic. Caelius Aurelianus contributes generously to the part of book IV dealing with medicine. Isidore's view of


title: "John Lilburne" content: John Lilburne John Lilburne (161429 August 1657), also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after the English Civil Wars 1642–1650. He coined the term ""freeborn rights"", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law. In his early life he was a Puritan, though towards the end of his life he became a Quaker. His works have been cited in opinions by the United States Supreme Court. John Lilburne was the son of Richard Lilburne, a landowner of estates at Thickley Punchardon


title: "Comet Hyakutake" content: pattern expected in a comet's ion, or plasma tail. The magnetometer team looked for likely suspects. No known comets were located near the satellite, but looking further afield, they found that Hyakutake, away, had crossed "Ulysses" orbital plane on 23 April 1996. The solar wind had a velocity at the time of about , at which speed it would have taken eight days for the tail to be carried out to where the spacecraft was situated at 3.73 AU, approximately 45 degrees out of the ecliptic plane. The orientation of the ion tail inferred from the magnetic field measurements agreed


title: "Torah study" content: strictly rationalist, such as Reconstructionist Judaism. However, non-Orthodox Jews generally spend less time in detailed study of the classical Torah commentators, and spend more time studying modern Torah commentaries that draw on and include the classical commentators, but which are written from more modern perspectives. Furthermore, works of rabbinic literature (such as the Talmud) typically receive less attention than the Tanakh. Before the Enlightenment, virtually all Jews believed that the Torah was dictated to Moses by God. Since many parts of the Torah, specifically the laws and commandments, are written in unspecific terms, they also believed that Moses received an


title: "Emirates (airline)" content: in the world in terms of international passengers carried, and the largest in the world in terms of scheduled international passenger-kilometers flown. It is also the seventh-largest in terms of scheduled freight tonne-kilometres flown (sixth in scheduled international freight tonne-kilometres flown). Emirates' financial success has been attributed to rapid growth in demand for air travel in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia; the airline's investment in state-of-the-art aircraft, and the availability of airport capacity that can be used 24 hours a day. In the 1990s, Emirates launched its first set of commercials with the slogan "So be good to yourself,


title: "The Big Pond" content: the two versions are the same, except the editing for the French version was done by Barney Rogan. The Big Pond The Big Pond is a 1930 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film based on a 1928 play of the same name by George Middleton and A.E. Thomas. The film was written by Garrett Fort, Robert Presnell Sr. and Preston Sturges, who provided the dialogue in his first Hollywood assignment, and was directed by Hobart Henley. The film stars Maurice Chevalier and Claudette Colbert, and features George Barbier, Marion Ballou, and Andrée Corday, and was released by Paramount Pictures. "The Big


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: Narcissus (plant) Narcissus is a genus of predominantly spring perennial plants of the Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis) family. Various common names including daffodil, daffadowndilly, narcissus and jonquil are used to describe all or some members of the genus. "Narcissus" has conspicuous flowers with six petal-like tepals surmounted by a cup- or trumpet-shaped corona. The flowers are generally white or yellow (also orange or pink in garden varieties), with either uniform or contrasting coloured tepals and corona. "Narcissus" were well known in ancient civilisation, both medicinally and botanically, but formally described by Linnaeus in his "Species Plantarum" (1753). The genus is generally considered


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: to have about ten sections with approximately 50 species. The number of species has varied, depending on how they are classified, due to similarity between species and hybridisation. The genus arose some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene epochs, in the Iberian peninsula and adjacent areas of southwest Europe. The exact origin of the name "Narcissus" is unknown, but it is often linked to a Greek word for intoxicated (narcotic) and the myth of the youth of that name who fell in love with his own reflection. The English word "daffodil" appears to be derived from "asphodel", with


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: which it was commonly compared. The species are native to meadows and woods in southern Europe and North Africa with a centre of diversity in the Western Mediterranean, particularly the Iberian peninsula. Both wild and cultivated plants have naturalised widely, and were introduced into the Far East prior to the tenth century. Narcissi tend to be long-lived bulbs, which propagate by division, but are also insect-pollinated. Known pests, diseases and disorders include viruses, fungi, the larvae of flies, mites and nematodes. Some "Narcissus" species have become extinct, while others are threatened by increasing urbanisation and tourism. Historical accounts suggest narcissi


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: have been cultivated from the earliest times, but became increasingly popular in Europe after the 16th century and by the late 19th century were an important commercial crop centred primarily on the Netherlands. Today narcissi are popular as cut flowers and as ornamental plants in private and public gardens. The long history of breeding has resulted in thousands of different cultivars. For horticultural purposes, narcissi are classified into divisions, covering a wide range of shapes and colours. Like other members of their family, narcissi produce a number of different alkaloids, which provide some protection for the plant, but may be


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: poisonous if accidentally ingested. This property has been exploited for medicinal use in traditional healing and has resulted in the production of galantamine for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia. Long celebrated in art and literature, narcissi are associated with a number of themes in different cultures, ranging from death to good fortune, and as symbols of spring. The daffodil is the national flower of Wales and the symbol of cancer charities in many countries. The appearance of the wild flowers in spring is associated with festivals in many places. "Narcissus" is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: after flowering to an underground storage bulb. They regrow in the following year from brown-skinned ovoid bulbs with pronounced necks, and reach heights of 5–80 cm depending on the species. Dwarf species such as "N. asturiensis" have a maximum height of 5–8 cm, while "Narcissus tazetta" may grow as tall as 80 cm. The plants are scapose, having a single central leafless hollow flower stem (scape). Several green or blue-green, narrow, strap-shaped leaves arise from the bulb. The plant stem usually bears a solitary flower, but occasionally a cluster of flowers (umbel). The flowers, which are usually conspicuous and white


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: or yellow, sometimes both or rarely green, consist of a perianth of three parts. Closest to the stem (proximal) is a floral tube above the ovary, then an outer ring composed of six tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals), and a central disc to conical shaped corona. The flowers may hang down (pendent), or be erect. There are six pollen bearing stamens surrounding a central style. The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) consisting of three chambers (trilocular). The fruit consists of a dry capsule that splits (dehisces) releasing numerous black seeds. The bulb lies dormant after the leaves and


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: flower stem die back and has contractile roots that pull it down further into the soil. The flower stem and leaves form in the bulb, to emerge the following season. Most species are dormant from summer to late winter, flowering in the spring, though a few species are autumn flowering. The pale brown-skinned ovoid tunicate bulbs have a membranous tunic and a corky stem (base or basal) plate from which arise the adventitious root hairs in a ring around the edge, which grow up to 40 mm in length. Above the stem plate is the storage organ consisting of bulb


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: scales, surrounding the previous flower stalk and the terminal bud. The scales are of two types, true storage organs and the bases of the foliage leaves. These have a thicker tip and a scar from where the leaf lamina became detached. The innermost leaf scale is semicircular only partly enveloping the flower stalk (semisheathed).(see Hanks Fig 1.3). The bulb may contain a number of branched bulb units, each with two to three true scales and two to three leaf bases. Each bulb unit has a life of about four years. Once the leaves die back in summer, the roots also


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: wither. After some years, the roots shorten pulling the bulbs deeper into the ground (contractile roots). The bulbs develop from the inside, pushing the older layers outwards which become brown and dry, forming an outer shell, the tunic or skin. Up to 60 layers have been counted in some wild species. While the plant appears dormant above the ground the flower stalk which will start to grow in the following spring, develops within the bulb surrounded by two to three deciduous leaves and their sheaths. The flower stem lies in the axil of the second true leaf. The single leafless


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: stem or scape, appearing from early to late spring depending on the species, bears from 1 to 20 blooms. Stem shape depends on the species, some are highly compressed with a visible seam, while others are rounded. The stems are upright and located at the centre of the leaves. In a few species such as "N. hedraeanthus" the stem is oblique (asymmetrical). The stem is hollow in the upper portion but towards the bulb is more solid and filled with a spongy material. "Narcissus" plants have one to several basal leaves which are linear, ligulate or strap shaped (long and


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: narrow), sometimes channelled adaxially to semiterete, and may (pedicellate) or may not (sessile) have a petiole stalk. The leaves are flat and broad to cylindrical at the base and arise from the bulb. The emerging plant generally has two leaves, but the mature plant usually three, rarely four, and they are covered with a cutin containing cuticle, giving them a waxy appearance. Leaf colour is light green to blue-green. In the mature plant the leaves extend higher than the flower stem, but in some species the leaves are low hanging. The leaf base is encased in a colourless sheath. After


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: flowering the leaves turn yellow and die back once the seed pod (fruit) is ripe. Jonquils usually have dark green, round, rush-like leaves. The inflorescence is scapose, the single stem or scape bearing either a solitary flower or forming an umbel with up to 20 blooms. Species bearing a solitary flower include section "Bulbocodium" and most of section "Pseudonarcissus". Umbellate species have a fleshy racemose inflorescence (unbranched, with short floral stalks) with 2 to 15 or 20 flowers, such as "N. papyraceus" (see illustration, left) and "N. tazetta" (see Table I). The flower arrangement on the inflorescence may be either


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: with (pedicellate) or without (sessile) floral stalks. Prior to opening, the flower buds are enveloped and protected in a thin dry papery or membranous (scarious) spathe. The spathe consists of a singular bract that is ribbed, and which remains wrapped around the base of the open flower. As the bud grows, the spathe splits longitudinally. Bracteoles are small or absent. The flowers of "Narcissus" are hermaphroditic (bisexual), have three parts (tripartite), and are sometimes fragrant (see Fragrances). The flower symmetry is actinomorphic (radial) to slightly zygomorphic (bilateral) due to declinate-ascending stamens (curving downwards, then bent up at the tip). "Narcissus"


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: flowers are characterised by their, usually conspicuous, corona (trumpet). The three major floral parts (in all species except "N. cavanillesii" in which the corona is virtually absent - Table I: Section "Tapeinanthus") are; All three parts may be considered to be components of the perianth (perigon, perigonium). The perianth arises above the apex of the inferior ovary, its base forming the hypanthial floral tube. The floral tube is formed by fusion of the basal segments of the tepals (proximally connate). Its shape is from an inverted cone (obconic) to funnel-shaped (funneliform) or cylindrical, and is surmounted by the more distal


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: corona. Floral tubes can range from long and narrow in sections "Apodanthi" and "Jonquilla" to rudimentary ("N. cavanillesii"). Surrounding the floral tube and corona and reflexed (bent back) from the rest of the perianth are the six spreading tepals or floral leaves, in two whorls which may be distally ascending, reflexed (folded back), or lanceolate. Like many monocotyledons, the perianth is homochlamydeous, that is undifferentiated into separate calyx (sepals) and corolla (petals), but rather has six tepals. The three outer tepal segments may be considered sepals, and the three inner segments petals. The transition point between the floral tube and


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: the corona is marked by the insertion of the free tepals on the fused perianth. The corona, or paracorolla, is variously described as bell-shaped (funneliform, trumpet), bowl-shaped (cupular, crateriform, cup shaped) or disc-shaped with margins that are often frilled, and is free from the stamens. Rarely the corona is a simple callose (hardened, thickened) ring. The corona is formed during floral development as a tubular outgrowth from stamens which fuse into a tubular structure, the anthers becoming reduced. At its base the fragrances which attract pollinators are formed. All species produce nectar at the top of the ovary. Coronal morphology


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: varies from the tiny pigmented disk of "N. serotinus" (see Table I) or the rudimentary structure in "N. cavanillesii" to the elongated trumpets of section "Pseudonarcissus" (trumpet daffodils, Table I). While the perianth may point forwards, in some species such as "N. cyclamineus" it is folded back (reflexed, see illustration, left), while in some other species such as "N. bulbocodium" (Table I), it is reduced to a few barely visible pointed segments with a prominent corona. The colour of the perianth is white, yellow or bicoloured, with the exception of the night flowering "N. viridiflorus" which is green. In addition


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: the corona of "N. poeticus" has a red crenulate margin (see Table I). Flower diameter varies from 12 mm "(N. bulbocodium)" to over 125 mm ("N. nobilis"="N. pseudonarcissus" supsp. "nobilis"). Flower orientation varies from pendent or deflexed (hanging down) as in "N. triandrus" (see illustration, left), through declinate-ascendant as in "N. alpestris" = "N. pseudonarcissus" subsp. "moschatus", horizontal (patent, spreading) such as "N. gaditanus" or "N. poeticus", erect as in "N. cavanillesii", "N. serotinus" and "N. rupicola" (Table I), or intermediate between these positions (erecto-patent). The flowers of "Narcissus" demonstrate exceptional floral diversity and sexual polymorphism, primarily by corona size


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: and floral tube length, associated with pollinator groups (see for instance Figs. 1 and 2 in Graham and Barrett). Barrett and Harder (2005) describe three separate floral patterns; The predominant patterns are the 'daffodil' and 'paperwhite' forms, while the "triandrus" form is less common. Each corresponds to a different group of pollinators (See Pollination). The "daffodil" form, which includes sections "Pseudonarcissus" and "Bulbocodium", has a relatively short, broad or highly funnelform tube (funnel-like), which grades into an elongated corona, which is large and funnelform, forming a broad, cylindrical or trumpet-shaped perianth. Section "Pseudonarcissus" consists of relatively large flowers with a


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: corolla length of around 50mm, generally solitary but rarely in inflorescences of 2–4 flowers. They have wide greenish floral tubes with funnel shaped bright yellow coronas. The six tepals sometimes differ in colour from the corona and may be cream coloured to pale yellow. The "paperwhite" form, including sections "Jonquilla", "Apodanthi" and "Narcissus", has a relatively long, narrow tube and a short, shallow, flaring corona. The flower is horizontal and fragrant. The "triandrus" form is seen in only two species, "N. albimarginatus" (a Moroccan endemic) and "N. triandrus". It combines features of both the "daffodil" and "paperwhite" forms, with a


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: well-developed, long, narrow tube and an extended bell-shaped corona of almost equal length. The flowers are pendent. There are six stamens in one to two rows (whorls), with the filaments separate from the corona, attached at the throat or base of the tube (epipetalous), often of two separate lengths, straight or declinate-ascending (curving downwards, then upwards). The anthers are basifixed (attached at their base). The ovary is inferior (below the floral parts) and trilocular (three chambered) and there is a pistil with a minutely three lobed stigma and filiform (thread like) style, which is often exserted (extending beyond the tube).


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: The fruit consists of dehiscent loculicidal capsules (splitting between the locules) that are ellipsoid to subglobose (almost spherical) in shape and are papery to leathery in texture. The fruit contains numerous subglobose seeds which are round and swollen with a hard coat, sometimes with an attached elaiosome. The testa is black and the pericarp dry. Most species have 12 ovules and 36 seeds, although some species such as "N. bulbocodium" have more, up to a maximum of 60. Seeds take five to six weeks to mature. The seeds of sections "Jonquilla" and "Bulbocodium" are wedge-shaped and matte black, while those


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: of other sections are ovate and glossy black. A gust of wind or contact with a passing animal is sufficient to disperse the mature seeds. Chromosome numbers include 2n=14, 22, 26, with numerous aneuploid and polyploid derivatives. The basic chromosome number is 7, with the exception of "N. tazetta", "N. elegans" and "N. broussonetii" in which it is 10 or 11; this subgenus ("Hermione") was in fact characterised by this characteristic. Polyploid species include "N. papyraceus" (4x=22) and "N. dubius" (6x=50). As with all Amarylidaceae genera, "Narcissus" contains unique isoquinoline alkaloids. The first alkaloid to be identified was lycorine, from


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: "N. pseudonarcissus" in 1877. These are considered a protective adaptation, and are utilised in the classification of species. Nearly 100 alkaloids have been identified in the genus, about a third of all known Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, although not all species have been tested. Of the nine alkaloid ring types identified in the family, "Narcissus" species most commonly demonstrate the presence of alkaloids from within the Lycorine (lycorine, galanthine, pluviine) and Homolycorine (homolycorine, lycorenine) groups. Hemanthamine, Tazettine, Narciclasine, Montanine and Galantamine alkaloids are also represented. The alkaloid profile of any plant varies with time, location, and developmental stage. "Narcissus" also contain fructans


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: and low molecular weight glucomannan in the leaves and plant stems. Fragrances are predominantly monoterpene isoprenoids, with a small amount of benzenoids, although "N. jonquilla" has both equally represented. Another exception is "N. cuatrecasasii" which produces mainly fatty acid derivatives. The basic monoterpene precursor is geranyl pyrophosphate, and the commonest monoterpenes are limonene, myrcene, and "trans"-β-ocimene. Most benzenoids are non-methoxylated, while a few species contain methoxylated forms (ethers), "e.g." "N. bugei". Other ingredient include indole, isopentenoids and very small amounts of sesquiterpenes. Fragrance patterns can be correlated with pollinators, and fall into three main groups (see Pollination). The genus "Narcissus"


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: was well known to the ancients. In Greek literature Theophrastus and Dioscorides. described "νάρκισσος", probably referring to "N. poeticus", although the exact species mentioned in classical literature cannot be accurately established. Pliny the Elder later introduced the Latin form "narcissus". These early writers were as much interested in the plant's possible medicinal properties as they were its botanical features and their accounts remained influential until at least the Renaissance (see also Antiquity). Mediaeval and Renaissance writers include Albert Magnus and William Turner, but it remained to Linnaeus to formally describe and name "Narcissus" as a genus in his Species Plantarum


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: (1753) at which time there were six known species. De Jussieu (1789) grouped "Narcissus" into a "family", which he called Narcissi. This was renamed Amaryllideae by Jaume Saint-Hilaire in 1805, corresponding to the modern Amaryllidaceae. For a while "Narcissus" was considered part of Liliaceae (as in the illustration seen here of "Narcissus candidissimus"), but then the Amaryllidaceae were split off from it. Various authors have adopted either narrow (e.g. Haworth, Salisbury) or wide (e.g.Herbert, Spach ) interpretations of the genus. The narrow view treated many of the species as separate genera. Over time the wider view prevailed with a major


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: monograph on the genus being published by Baker (1875). One of the more controversial genera was "Tapeinanthus", but today it is included in "Narcissus". The eventual position of "Narcissus" within the Amaryllidaceae family only became settled in this century with the advent of phylogenetic analysis and the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system. Within Amaryllidaceae the genus "Narcissus" belongs to the Narcisseae tribe, one of 13 within the Amaryllidoideae subfamily. It is one of two sister clades corresponding to genera in the Narcisseae, being distinguished from "Sternbergia" by the presence of a paraperigonium, and is monophyletic. The infrageneric phylogeny of "Narcissus" still


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: remains relatively unsettled, the taxonomy having proved complex and difficult to resolve, due to the diversity of the wild species, the ease with which natural hybridization occurs, and extensive cultivation and breeding accompanied by escape and naturalisation. Consequently, the number of accepted species has varied widely. De Candolle, in the first systematic taxonomy of "Narcissus", arranged the species into named groups, and those names have largely endured for the various subdivisions since and bear his name as their authority. The situation was confused by the inclusion of many unknown or garden varieties, and it was not till the work of


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: Baker that the wild species were all grouped as sections under one genus, "Narcissus". A common classification system has been that of Fernandes based on cytology, as modified by Blanchard (1990) and Mathew (2002). Another is that of Meyer (1966). Fernandes proposed two subgenera based on basal chromosome number, and then subdivided these into ten sections as did Blanchard. Other authors (e.g. Webb) prioritised morphology over genetics, abandoning subgenera, although Blanchard's system has been one of the most influential. While infrageneric groupings within "Narcissus" have been relatively constant, their status (genera, subgenera, sections, subsections, series, species) has not. The most


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: cited system is that of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) which simply lists ten sections. Three of these are monotypic (contain only one species), while two others contain only two species. Most species are placed in section "Pseudonarcissus". Many of these subdivisions correspond roughly to the popular names for daffodil types, "e.g." Trumpet Daffodils, Tazettas, Pheasant's Eyes, Hoop Petticoats, Jonquils. The most hierarchical system is that of Mathew, illustrated here - The phylogenetic analysis of Graham and Barrett (2004) supported the infrageneric division of "Narcissus" into two clades corresponding to Fernandes' subgenera, but did not support monophyly of all sections.


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: A later extended analysis by Rønsted "et. al." (2008) with additional taxa confirmed this pattern. A large molecular analysis by Zonneveld (2008) sought to reduce some of the paraphyly identified by Graham and Barrett. This led to a revision of the sectional structure. While Graham and Barrett (2004) had determined that subgenus "Hermione" was monophyletic, Santos-Gally "et. al." (2011) did not. If two species excluded in the former study are removed from the analysis, the studies are in agreement, the species in question instead forming a clade with subgenus "Narcissus". Some so-called nothosections have been proposed, to accommodate natural ('ancient')


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: hybrids (nothospecies). Estimates of the number of species in "Narcissus" have varied widely, from anywhere between 16 and almost 160, even in the modern era. Linnaeus originally included six species in 1753, by 1784 there were fourteen by 1819 sixteen, and by 1831 Adrian Haworth had described 150 species. Much of the variation lies in the definition of species. Thus, a very wide view of each species, such as Webb's results in few species, while a very narrow view such as that of Fernandes results in a larger number. Another factor is the status of hybrids, with a distinction between


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: "ancient hybrids" and "recent hybrids". The term "ancient hybrid" refers to hybrids found growing over a large area, and therefore now considered as separate species, while "recent hybrid" refers to solitary plants found amongst their parents, with a more restricted range. Fernandes (1951) originally accepted 22 species, Webb (1980) 27. By 1968, Fernandes had 63 species, Blanchard (1990) 65 species, and Erhardt (1993) 66. In 2006 the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) "International Daffodil Register and Classified List" listed 87 species, while Zonneveld's genetic study (2008) resulted in only 36. , the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 52 species,


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: along with at least 60 hybrids, while the RHS has 81 accepted names in its October 2014 list. Within the Narcisseae, "Narcissus" (western Mediterranean) diverged from "Sternbergia" (Eurasia) some time in the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene eras, around 29.3–18.1 Ma. Later the genus divided into the two subgenera ("Hermione" and "Narcissus") between 27.4–16.1 Ma. The divisions between the sections of "Hermione" then took place during the Miocene period 19.9–7.8 Ma. "Narcissus" appears to have arisen in the area of the Iberian peninsula, southern France and north-western Italy. Subgenus "Hermione" in turn arose in the southwestern mediterranean and north west


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: Africa. The derivation of the Latin "narcissus" () is unknown, but may be connected with hell. It is frequently linked to the myth of Narcissus, who became so obsessed with his own reflection in water that he drowned and the narcissus plant sprang from where he died. There is no evidence for the flower being named for the youth. "Narcissus poeticus" which grows in Greece, has a fragrance that has been described as intoxicating. Pliny wrote that the plant was named for its fragrance ("ναρκάω" narkao, "I grow numb" ), not the youth. Furthermore, there were accounts of narcissi growing


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: long before the story of Narcissus appeared (see Greek culture). It has also been suggested that daffodils bending over streams represent the youth admiring his reflection. Linnaeus used the Latin name "narcissus" for the plant but was preceded by others such as Matthias de l'Obel (1591) and Clusius (1576). The name Narcissus was not uncommon for men in Roman times. The plural form of the common name "narcissus" has caused some confusion. Dictionaries list "narcissi", "narcissuses" and "narcissus". However, texts on usage such as Garner and Fowler state that "narcissi" is the preferred form. The common name narcissus should not


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: be capitalised. The name "daffodil" is derived from "affodell", a variant of "asphodel". The narcissus was frequently referred to as the asphodel (see Antiquity). Asphodel in turn appears to come from the Greek "asphodelos" (). The reason for the introduction of the initial "d" is not known. From at least the 16th century, "daffadown dilly" and "daffydowndilly" have appeared as alternative names. Other names include "Lent lily". Although the family Amaryllidaceae are predominantly tropical or subtropical as a whole, "Narcissus" occurs primarily in Mediterranean region, with a centre of diversity in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). A few species


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: extend the range into southern France, Italy, the Balkans ("N. poeticus", "N. serotinus", "N. tazetta"), and the Eastern Mediterranean ("N. serotinus") including Israel ("N. tazetta"). The occurrence of "N. tazetta" in western and central Asia, China and Japan are considered introductions, albeit ancient (see Eastern cultures). While the exact northern limit of the natural range is unknown, the occurrences of wild "N. pseudonarcissus" in Great Britain, middle and northern Europe are similarly considered ancient introductions. While Amaryllidaceae is not native to North America, it grows well in USDA hardiness zones 3B through 10, which encompass most of the United States


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: and Canada. "N. elegans" occurs on the North West African Coast (Morocco and Libya), as well as the coastline of Corsica, Sardinia and Italy, and "N. bulbocodium" between Tangier and Algiers and Tangier to Marrakech, but also on the Iberian Peninsula. "N. serotinus" is found along the entire Mediterranean coast. "N. tazetta" occurs as far east as Iran and Kashmir. Since this is one of the oldest species found in cultivation, it is likely to have been introduced into Kashmir. "N. poeticus" and "N. pseudonarcissus" have the largest distribution ranges. "N. poeticus" ranges from the Pyrenees along the Romanian Carpathians


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: to the Black Sea and along the Dalmatian coast to Greece. "N. pseudonarcissus" ranges from the Iberian Peninsula, via the Vosges Mountains to northern France and Belgium, and the United Kingdom where there are still wild stocks in Southern Scotland. The only occurrence in Luxembourg is located near Lellingen, in the municipality of Kiischpelt. In Germany it is found mainly in the nature reserve at Perlenbach-Fuhrtsbachtal and the Eifel National Park, where in the spring at Monschau the meadows are teeming with yellow blooms. One of the most easterly occurrences can be found at Misselberg near Nassau on the Lahn.


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: However unlike the above examples most species have very restricted endemic ranges which may overlap resulting in natural hybrids. For instance in the vicinity of the Portuguese city of Porto where both "N. pseudonarcissus" and "N. triandrus" occur there are found various intersections of the two species while in a small area along part of the Portuguese Montego river are found intersectional hybrids between "N. scaberulus" and "N. triandrus". The biogeography demonstrates a phylogenetic association, for instance subgenus "Hermione" having a lowland distribution, but subgenus "Narcissus" section "Apodanthi" being montane and restricted to Morocco, Spain and Portugal. The remaining sections


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: within subgenus "Narcissus" include both lowland and mountain habitats. Section "Pseudonarcissus", although widely naturalised is endemic to the Baetic Ranges of the south eastern Iberian peninsula. Their native habitats are very varied, with different elevations, bioclimatic areas and substrates, being found predominantly in open spaces ranging from low marshes to rocky hillsides and montane pastures, and including grassland, scrub, woods, river banks and rocky crevices. Although requirements vary, overall there is a preference for acidic soils, although some species will grow on limestone. "Narcissus scaberulus" will grow on granite soils where it is moist in the growing season but dry


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: in the summer, while "Narcissus dubius" thrives best in regions with hot and dry summers. The "Pseudonarcissus" group in their natural habitat prefer humid situations such as stream margins, springs, wet pastures, clearings of forests or shrublands with humid soils, and moist hillsides. These habitats tend to be discontinuous in the Mediterranean mountains, producing discrete isolated populations. In Germany, which has relatively little limestone, "Narcissus pseudonarcissus" grows in small groups on open mountain meadows or in mixed forests of fir, beech, oak, alder, ash and birch trees with well-drained soil. "Narcissus" are long-lived perennial geophytes with winter-growing and summer-dormant bulbs


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: that are mainly synanthous (leaves and flowers appearing at the same time). While most species flower in late winter to spring, five species are autumn flowering ("N. broussonetii", "N. cavanillesii", "N. elegans", "N. serotinus", "N. viridiflorus"). By contrast these species are hysteranthous (leaves appear after flowering). Flower longevity varies by species and conditions, ranging from 5–20 days. After flowering leaf and root senescence sets in, and the plant appears to be 'dormant' till the next spring, conserving moisture. However the dormant period is also one of considerable activity within the bulb primordia. It is also a period during which the


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: plant bulb may be susceptible to predators (see Pests and diseases below). Like many bulb plants from temperate regions, a period of exposure to cold is necessary before spring growth can begin. This protects the plant from growth during winter when intense cold may damage it. Warmer spring temperatures then initiate growth from the bulb. Early spring growth confers a number of advantages, including relative lack of competition for pollinators, and lack of deciduous shading. The exception to requiring cold temperatures to initiate flowering is "N. tazetta". Plants may spread clonally through the production of daughter bulbs and division producing


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: clumps. Narcissus species hybridise readily, although the fertility of the offspring will depend on the parental relationship. The flowers are insect pollinated, the major pollinators being bees, butterflies, flies, and hawkmoths, while the highly scented night flowering "N. viridiflorus" is pollinated by crepuscular moths. Pollination mechanism fall into three groups corresponding to floral morphology (see Description - Flowers). Allogamy (outcrossing) on the whole is enforced through a late-acting (ovarian) self-incompatibility system, but some species such as "N. dubius" and "N. longispathus" are self-compatible producing mixtures of selfed and outcrossed seeds. Diseases of "Narcissus" are of concern because of the economic


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: consequences of losses in commercial cultivation. Pests include viruses, bacteria, and fungi as well as arthropods and gastropods. For control of pests, see Commercial uses. Aphids such as "Macrosiphum euphorbiae" can transmit viral diseases which affect the colour and shape of the leaves, as can nematodes. Up to twenty-five viruses have been described as being able to infect narcissi. These include the "Narcissus common latent virus" (NCLV, "Narcissus mottling-associated virus"), "Narcissus latent virus" (NLV, "Narcissus mild mottle virus") which causes green mottling near leaf tips, "Narcissus degeneration virus" (NDV), "Narcissus late season yellows virus" (NLSYV) which occurs after flowering, streaking


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: the leaves and stems, "Narcissus mosaic virus", "Narcissus yellow stripe virus" (NYSV, "Narcissus yellow streak virus"), "Narcissus tip necrosis virus" (NTNV) which produces necrosis of leaf tips after flowering and "Narcissus white streak virus" (NWSV). Less host specific viruses include "Raspberry ringspot virus", "Nerine latent virus" (NeLV) ="Narcissus symptomless virus", "Arabis mosaic virus" (ArMV), "Broad Bean Wilt Viruses" (BBWV) "Cucumber mosaic virus" (CMV), "Tomato black ring virus" (TBRV), "Tomato ringspot virus" (TomRSV) and "Tobacco rattle virus" (TRV). Of these viruses the most serious and prevalent are NDV, NYSV and NWSV. NDV is associated with chlorotic leaf striping in "N. tazetta".


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: Infection with NYSV produces light or grayish green, or yellow stripes or mottles on the upper two-thirds of the leaf, which may be roughened or twisted. The flowers which may be smaller than usual may also be streaked or blotched. NWSV produces greenish-purple streaking on the leaves and stem turning white to yellow, and premature senescence reducing bulb size and yield. These viruses are primarily diseases of commercial nurseries. The growth inhibition caused by viral infection can cause substantial economic damage. Bacterial disease is uncommon in "Narcissus" but includes "Pseudomonas" (bacterial streak) and "Pectobacterium carotovorum" sp. "carotovorum" (bacterial soft rot).


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: More problematic for non-commercial plants is the fungus, "Fusarium oxysporum" f. sp. "narcissi", which causes basal rot (rotting of the bulbs and yellowing of the leaves). This is the most serious disease of "Narcissus". Since the fungus can remain in the soil for many years it is necessary to remove infected plants immediately, and to avoid planting further narcissi at that spot for a further five years. Not all species and cultivars are equally susceptible. Relatively resistant forms include "N. triandrus", "N. tazetta" and "N. jonquilla". Another fungus which attacks the bulbs, causing narcissus smoulder, is "Botrytis narcissicola" ("Sclerotinia narcissicola")


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: and other species of "Botrytis", including "Botrytis cinerea", particularly if improperly stored. Copper sulfate is used to combat the disease, and infected bulbs are burned. Blue mould rot of bulbs may be caused by infection with species of "Penicillium", if they have become damaged either through mechanical injury or infestation by mites (see below). Species of Rhizopus ("e.g." "Rhizopus stolonifer", "Rhizopus nigricans") cause bulb soft rot and "Sclerotinia bulborum", black slime disease. A combination of both "Peyronellaea curtisii" ("Stagonosporopsis curtisii") and "Botrytis narcissicola" causes neck rot in the bulbs. Fungi affecting the roots include "Nectria radicicola" ("Cylindrocarpon destructans"), a cause


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: of root rot and "Rosellinia necatrix" causing white root rot, while others affect root and bulb, such as "Aspergillus niger" (black mold), and species of "Trichoderma", including "T. viride" and "T. harzianum" (="T. narcissi") responsible for green mold. Other fungi affect the remainder of the plant. Another "Botrytis" fungus, "Botrytis polyblastis" ("Sclerotinia polyblastis") causes brown spots on the flower buds and stems (narcissus fire), especially in damp weather and is a threat to the cut flower industry. "Ramularia vallisumbrosae" is a leaf spot fungus found in warmer climates, causing narcissus white mould disease. "Peyronellaea curtisii", the Narcissus leaf scorch, also


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: affects the leaves as does its synanamorph, "Phoma narcissi" (leaf tip blight). "Aecidium narcissi" causes rust lesions on leaves and stems. Arthropods that are "Narcissus" pests include insects such as three species of fly that have larvae that attack the plants, narcissus bulb fly "Merodon equestris", and two species of hoverflies, the lesser bulb flies "Eumerus tuberculatus" and "Eumerus strigatus". The flies lay their eggs at the end of June in the ground around the narcissi, a single female fly being able to lay up to fifty eggs. The hatching larvae then burrow through the soil towards the bulbs and


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: consume their interiors. They then overwinter in the empty bulb shell, emerging in April to pupate in the soil, from which the adult fly emerges in May. The larvae of some moths such as "Korscheltellus lupulina" (the common swift moth) attack "Narcissus" bulbs. Other arthropods include Mites such as "Steneotarsonemus laticeps" (Bulb scale mite), "Rhizoglyphus" and "Histiostoma" infest mainly stored bulbs and multiply particularly at high ambient temperature, but do not attack planted bulbs. Planted bulbs are susceptible to nematodes, the most serious of which is "Ditylenchus dipsaci" (Narcissus eelworm), the main cause of basal plate disease in which the


title: "Narcissus (plant)" content: leaves turn yellow and become misshapen. Infested bulbs have to be destroyed; where infestation is heavy avoiding planting further narcissi for another five years. Other nematodes include "Aphelenchoides subtenuis", which penetrates the roots causing basal plate disease and "Pratylenchus penetrans" (lesion nematode) the main cause of root rot in narcissi. Gastropods such as snails and slugs also cause damage to growth. Many of the smallest species have become extinct, requiring vigilance in the conservation of the wild species. Narcissi are increasingly under threat by over-collection and threats to their natural habitats by urban development and tourism. "N. cyclamineus" has been