(すいせん)

すいせん
noun
narcissus; daffodil
1. narcissus; daffodil
Spring bulb flower of the genus Narcissus, with white or yellow trumpet-shaped blooms. Widely planted in Japanese gardens and along the coast, especially as a winter-to-early-spring flower.
(にわ)水仙(すいせん)()いた。
Narcissuses have bloomed in the garden.
(はる)(おとず)れを()げる水仙(すいせん)(はな)()きだ。
I love narcissus flowers, which announce the arrival of spring.
越前海岸(えちぜんかいがん)日本(にほん)三大(さんだい)水仙(すいせん)群生地(ぐんせいち)(ひと)つとして()られている。
The Echizen coast is known as one of Japan's three great wild narcissus colonies.

Spring flowering bulb of the genus Narcissus. In Japan it blooms from late winter through early spring and is associated with the end of the cold season. The whole plant is toxic if eaten.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 水仙(すいせん)()く: narcissus blooms
  • 水仙(すいせん)(はな): narcissus flower
  • ニホンズイセン: Japanese narcissus (the most common variety)
  • ラッパ水仙(すいせん): trumpet daffodil

CULTURAL CONTEXT:
Narcissus is celebrated as one of the 雪中(せっちゅう)四友(しゆう) (four friends in the snow) along with plum, winter sweet, and camellia. Several coastal areas (notably Echizen, Awaji, and Kakuda) are famous for wild narcissus colonies.

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • ラッパ水仙(すいせん): trumpet daffodil — the large-trumpeted variety often pictured in English as a 'daffodil'
  • チューリップ: tulip — another spring bulb flower
  • 彼岸花(ひがんばな): red spider lily — another bulb-related flower, but blooms in autumn