Marteliño
This species belongs to the family Amaryllidaceae. It was first described and published by the French botanist Agustin Pyrame de Candolle in 1815, in the final volume of the renowned work on Liliaceae, published by the famous illustrator Pierre Josheh Redouté. A curious fact about this species is that it was described based on cultivated plants from Porto, where it was almost wipe out during the 19th and early 20th centuries due to the collection of its bulbs by sellers for the European market.
Distribution
This species is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily found in areas of the Galicia and Portuguese Atlantic regions. It has also become feral in central and southern Britain, where it escapes from cultivated areas and gardens.
Habitat
Narcissus cyclamineus occurs in wet meadows, riverside alder groves, and the margins of oak woodland, typically at elevations between 50 and 800 metres above sea level. It prefers acidic soils rich in organic matter. The species blooms from January to April and produces ripe fruit by mid-June.
Conservation
Although there is no specific data on the populations status of this species, although the Germplasm Bank of the Real Jardín Botánic-CSIC conserves seed collections of Galicía origin, which were collected in 2021. Threats to this species primarily stem from the expansion of agricultural and livestock systems in its natural habitat, which leads to habitat loss and environmental changes.
Image description
The scanning electron microscope image shows a subspherical seed, approximately 3 millimetres in length, with a surface covered in fine, irregular striations with no apparent order. Additionally, this species features a fleshy structure called a strophiolus, which protrudes from one end of the seed. The strophiolus serves to store water and acts as a food attractant for insect dispersers.