Floriography

Narcissus Flower Meaning: Symbolism, Myths and Traditions

Written by Petal Republic Editorial Team

Published Feb 26, 2024Updated Oct 20, 20265 min read

A close look at the narcissus flower's meanings, from Victorian and Japanese sources to the Welsh emblem and the pet-safety note every bulb owner needs.

Save

In Short

Narcissus flower meaning is self-love, which the Victorian dictionaries and Japan agree on, while joy and new beginnings are only modern florist readings. We traced each meaning to its oldest dictionary, and narcissus is toxic to cats and dogs, the bulbs most of all, so keep bulbs out of paw's reach.

Give daffodils in a bunch of several stems; folk superstition warns that a single daffodil brings misfortune.
Pick a jonquil for desire, a daffodil for regard, and a narcissus only for egotism if you want a Victorian meaning on the card.

More Takeaways

Wear a daffodil for Wales, where it is the national flower, though the leek is the older Welsh emblem.

Where the Names Narcissus and Daffodil Come From

Hand-coloured plate of a lesser daffodil with one nodding yellow trumpet, strap leaves and a bulb with roots — Narcissus minor, plate from Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1797), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Where This Comes From: Dictionary.com and Morris Arboretum

Most species in the genus Narcissus are called daffodils. Daffodil is a common name, from the Middle English affodile, a variant of asphodel. The Latin genus name Narcissus comes from the Greek narkissos, traditionally linked to narke, numbness. The full Latin name for the common wild daffodil is Narcissus pseudonarcissus.

Narcissus, Daffodil or Jonquil?

Narcissus is the Latin genus name, while daffodil is the common name for most Narcissus species. A Victorian writer noted that the yellow narcissus is better known as the daffodil, and pet-safety references treat Narcissus, jonquil and paper white as one plant. Each name carries its own native range.

Name	What It Is	Native Range
Narcissus	The genus name, from the Greek narkissos	Mediterranean bulbs; the range varies by species
Daffodil	The common name for most Narcissus species; the wild daffodil is N. pseudonarcissus	Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland
Jonquil	N. jonquilla, with rush-like leaves	Portugal and Spain
Paperwhite	N. papyraceus, the indoor winter bulb	Algeria, France, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Sicily and Spain
Chinese narcissus	N. tazetta, grown for the lunar New Year	The Mediterranean east to Iran, Japan and southeast China

Narcissus Flowers in Welsh Folklore

Yellow daffodils carpeting a sloping lawn under bare trees at Bodnant Garden in North Wales — Photo: BodnantGarden, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Where This Comes From: Museum Wales and the Woodland Trust

Wild daffodils are also called Lent lilies and Easter lilies, and, in Wales, Peter's leek.

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, a recent emblem next to the older leek of St David.

Chinese Folklore

Ink drawing of narcissus plants with long curling leaves and small flowers, from a Song-dynasty handscroll by Zhao Mengjian — Zhao Mengjian, Narcissus (handscroll, ink on paper, mid-13th century), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Open Access (CC0)

Where This Comes From: Pacific Horticulture and Lan Su Chinese Garden

In China, the narcissus is grown indoors to flower at the lunar New Year because it blooms so early in southern China.

The Chinese narcissus is Narcissus tazetta, which came to China from the west, reaching it by the Song dynasty at the latest, though sources differ on the date and route.

The Chinese name 水仙 (shuixian) means 'water immortal', because the bulb blooms from water and light alone.

Narcissus Flowers in Ancient Greek Mythology

Waterhouse's painting of Narcissus lying by a pool gazing at his reflection while Echo watches from behind a tree — Echo and Narcissus, John William Waterhouse (1903), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Where This Comes From: Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (via Theoi)

Ancient Greek mythology tells how Narcissus flowers came into existence in ancient times. Narcissus was the beautiful but proud son of the nymph Liriope and the river god Cephissus.

The myth tells that Narcissus was wandering in the woods when the mountain nymph Echo became captivated by his good looks and fell in love with him. Narcissus rejected Echo, and she wasted away in the woods until only her bones and voice remained.

In Ovid, a spurned suitor prays that Narcissus love and not win what he loves. Nemesis grants it, and Narcissus then sees his reflection in a clear pool and cannot look away. In Ovid, Narcissus stays by the pool, pines away, and dies there. He does not fall in or drown.

In Ovid, a flower with a golden and white center grows in the place where Narcissus lay.

An ancient Greek myth about Hades also mentions Narcissus flowers. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Persephone gathers flowers, the narcissus among them, in a meadow when Hades seizes her. The narcissus was grown as a snare at the will of Zeus. Ancient writers saw the narcissus as a flower of deceit that brings stupor and even death, consecrated to the Eumenides, Ceres and Proserpine. A medieval belief held that a drooping daffodil was an omen of death.

By Color

Narcissus Flower Colors and Their Meanings

Where This Comes From: Greenaway (1884) and Dumont (1851) for the Victorian meaning; the colour readings are a modern florist reading

Most species of Narcissus flower are yellow, white, or a combination of the two in different hues.

Florists today read yellow narcissus as joy, happiness and friendship, a modern reading.

Florists read white narcissus as purity and innocence, also a modern reading.

In the Victorian language of flowers, dictionaries gave the narcissus egotism or self-love and the daffodil regard, and none splits the meaning by color.

Where the Victorian, Japanese and Modern Meanings Agree

Victorian and Japanese readers agree on the core: the narcissus means self-love. The daffodil alone carried regard or deceitful hope, and the jonquil meant desire. Purity and new beginnings have no older source. Two older traditions align, while the modern readings stand apart.

Narcissus
Victorian
Egotism; self-love
Japanese
Self-love, conceit, mystery, respect
Today
Luck, renewal, purity
Victorian and Japanese agree; today differs
Daffodil
Victorian
Regard; self-love; deceitful hope
Japanese
Self-love (the Japanese daffodil, suisen)
Today
New beginnings, joy, friendship
Partly
Jonquil
Victorian
I desire a return of affection; desire
Japanese
Not found in the sources checked
Today
Not covered on the page
Victorian only
Paperwhite
Victorian
None found
Japanese
Not found in the sources checked
Today
Purity, innocence
Today only

Victorian: Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers (1884) and earlier flower dictionaries. Japanese: hanakotoba lists. Today: florists' readings.

Month 03 of 12

March Birth Month Flowers

Where This Comes From: The Old Farmer's Almanac

The tradition of March birth flowers is a long-standing custom with no recorded single origin, and the daffodil is the March birth flower.

Daffodils are one of the birth flowers for March.

10th Wedding Anniversary Flowers

Where This Comes From: A modern florist reading

Florist and anniversary lists name the daffodil as the traditional flower for a tenth wedding anniversary, a modern custom with no official designation.

Occasions

Gifting Narcissus Flowers

Where This Comes From: The RHS (the omen); the Duchy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust (the rent)
Pet Safety: Toxic to cats and dogs; the bulbs are the most poisonous part (ASPCA)

Folk superstition holds that a single daffodil brings misfortune, so give daffodils in a bunch. The Duchy of Cornwall says its tenant, the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, works the land for a rent of one daffodil a year, while the Trust says it pays no rent on the lease.

To send a bunch of your own, compare the florists we've tested.

Narcissus Flowers in Art and Literature

Clumps of yellow daffodils beside a bend in a lakeside road under bare trees, Ullswater in the distance — Photo: Richard Vince, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (geograph)

Where This Comes From: The Wordsworth Trust (Dorothy Wordsworth's journal) and Tate; Archaeology magazine (the Pompeii fresco)

Wordsworth's poem "I wandered lonely as a cloud", composed in 1804 and first published in 1807, drew on Dorothy Wordsworth's journal entry of 15 April 1802, when the pair saw 'a long belt' of daffodils by Ullswater. The poem pays tribute to "a host of golden daffodils".

Salvador Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937) takes the myth as its subject.

A Pompeii fresco uncovered in 2019 shows the youth Narcissus gazing at his reflection, evidence of the myth in Roman art rather than the flower.

Choosing a Narcissus to Give

The narcissus has meant self-love, deceit, hope and new beginnings in different eras, so choose the reading that suits the card.

For more flower meanings by flower, see our guides to cyclamen meaning, hyacinth meaning and wisteria meaning.

Questions and Answers

What is the narcissus called in Hindi and Urdu?

In Hindi and Urdu the narcissus is called nargis (नर्गिस / نرگس). The word also means eye and beauty in both languages.

How do you bloom a Chinese narcissus for the lunar New Year?

Set the bulb root-side down in a dish of pebbles in a sunny spot, and it typically takes about six weeks to reach full bloom.

Is the narcissus a March or a December birth flower?

Both. The daffodil is the March birth flower, and the paperwhite narcissus is a December birth flower. Paperwhites are often forced indoors as a holiday plant during the darkest days of winter.

Which flower means 'I love you secretly'?

In the Victorian language of flowers, yellow acacia means secret love, and honey flower means love sweet and secret.

Sources18 sources, linked in the text

Updates and CorrectionsOct 19, 2026 · 6 corrected, 1 clarified, 1 removed

Oct 19, 2026

Added: A table of narcissus, daffodil, jonquil, paperwhite and Chinese narcissus with native ranges, a comparison of Victorian, Japanese and modern meanings, a source for each meaning, the ASPCA's pet-safety listing and five photos.
Corrected: One statement about the official flower now follows the statute or official source.
Corrected: 3 unsourced figures (zones, counts, sizes or dates) were corrected to a source or removed.
Corrected: The page said daffodil means 'that which comes early'. The name is a variant of asphodel; narcissus comes from the Greek narkissos.
Corrected: The page said Narcissus drowned. In Ovid's telling he wastes away by the pool.
Corrected: The page gave a list of Victorian meanings the dictionaries do not hold. Greenaway's 1884 dictionary gives egotism for the narcissus and regard for the daffodil; Shoberl and Dumont give self-love.
Corrected: The page said the Pompeii fresco shows the narcissus flower. It shows the youth Narcissus.
Clarified: The Isles of Scilly daffodil rent: the Duchy of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust describe it differently, and the page now says so.
Removed: Unsourced claims about first-bloom luck in Wales, a Last Supper legend, an ancient Roman origin for March birth flowers and a Van Gogh painting.