Wednesday, March 14, 2012

March Birth Month Flower is Daffodil

Daffodil

The birth flower for March is daffodil. In the language of flowers, daffodils symbolize chivalry, respect, modesty and faithfulness.
Daffodils form a group of large-flowered members of the genus Narcissus. Most daffodils look yellow, but yellow-and-white, yellow-and-orange, white-and-orange, pink, and lime-green cultivars also exist. Daffodils grow perennially from bulbs. In temperate climates they flower among the earliest blooms in spring: to this extent daffodils both represent and herald spring. They often grow in large clusters, covering lawns and even entire hillsides with yellow.
Daffodils belong to the genus Narcissus. Daffodil is the common English name for them all, and Narcissus is the Latin, botanical name for them all. Some people refer to daffodils as "jonquils", from the Spanish name for the flower.
The name of the flower is derived from an earlier "affodell", a variant of asphodel. The reason for the introduction of the initial "d" is not known, though from at least the sixteenth century "Daffadown Dilly" or "daffadowndilly" has appeared as a playful synonym of the name. What a fancy March birth flower.