Today (1st March) is Saint David’s day, which has the same significance to the Welsh as Saint Patrick’s Day has to the Irish. Rather than having a (Welsh) dragon theme, this week I selected one of Wales’ two botanical emblems. The “David” whose statue appears in the picture is apparently one of those who promoted the Daffodil over the Leek, though he was much better known for other things!
The daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus, ) is a monocot in the Asparagales order together with asparagus, onions, and orchids. It grows wild across Western Europe and is also cultivated around the world as an important flower crop, propagating mostly vegetatively via underground bulbs from which new shoots sprout and flower in the spring.
Narcissi produce a number of poisonous alkaloids, but that has not stopped them being used medically. One of the most interesting alkaloids is Galantamine, first discovered in the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis). Galantamine is known to be a neuroactive that works by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). It is an antidote to curare poisoning and has been used to treat neuromuscular diseases such as poliomyelitis and myasthenia gravis. Galantatine shows particular promise as a drug for treating Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. It is now manufactured synthetically.
So what’s in it for daffodils? Despite lacking a nervous system, it seems that plants may use the same actylcholine in plant signalling pathways that animals use as a neurotransmitter, and therefore need similar enzymes to control acetylcholine synthesis and degradation. Nevertheless, it appears that galantine is not necessarily active within daffodil but instead interferes alleopathically with competing plants by disrupting their disrupting their grown (Turi et al, 2014).
Narcissus seems an unlikely candidate as a cosmetic ingredient as it causes contact dermatitis. As we learn from the mythologicalNarcissus, beauty can sometimes be overrated.
Dydd dewi sant hapus.
References
🎕Bastida J, Lavilla, R, Viladomat F (2006). Chemical and biological aspects of Narcissusalkaloids. The Alkaloids. Chemistry and biology, 63,87–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1099-4831(06)63003-4
🎕 National Center for BiotechnologyInformation (2024). PubChem Compound Summary for CID 9651, Galantamine. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/galanthamine
🎕 Turi CE et al (2014)"Galanthamine, an anti-cholinesterase drug, effects plant growth anddevelopment in Artemisia tridentata Nutt via modulation of auxin andneurotransmitter signaling”. Plant Signaling Behavior 9: e28645. https://doi.org/10.4161/psb.28645
