Periodic Graphics: The Chemistry Of Daffodils | April 13, 2015 Issue - Vol. 93 Issue 15 | Chemical & Engineering News
Volume 93 Issue 15 | p. 41
Issue Date: April 13, 2015

Periodic Graphics: The Chemistry Of Daffodils

Chemical educator and Compound Interest blogger Andy Brunning explores the molecular makeup of these symbols of spring
By Andy Brunning
Department: Science & Technology | Collection: Life Sciences
News Channels: Biological SCENE
Keywords: spring, daffodils, flowers, narcissus, carotene, pigments, aromas, poisons, Alzheimer’s
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For a PDF of this graphic click here.
Infographic showing some organic compounds in daffodils.
 
For a PDF of this graphic click here.
 

Periodic Graphics is a collaboration between C&EN and Andy Brunning, chemistry educator and author of the popular graphics blog Compound Interest. To see more of Brunning’s work, go to compoundchem.com. Check out all of C&EN’s Periodic Graphics here.

 
Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © American Chemical Society
Comments
spencer burrows (Tue Apr 14 01:19:41 EDT 2015)
Funny, I was walking dogs up the canal and I stood and looked at some daffodils and wondered what compounds might be hidden in them. Good stuff!
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Sam Gellman (Wed Apr 15 13:39:11 EDT 2015)
This kind of information is really helpful to those of us who teach undergraduate organic chemistry. This summary will allow me to try to connect organic chemistry with the day-to-day lives of my students when I lecture in a few minutes. (Our daffodils are just starting to emerge.)

Providing this type of information (for educators and others) is a great use of ACS resources.
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Robert Leonetti (Wed Apr 15 16:13:21 EDT 2015)
No wonder deer avoid them, while munching on tulips right next door.
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Tony Martin (Fri Apr 17 12:51:34 EDT 2015)
That why they recommended in this New Mexico mountain community with a large population of deer. Deer eat all the rest of the spring flowers.
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Trench (Tue Apr 26 14:50:53 EDT 2016)
I know that lycorine and galantamine are in the bulb of the daffodil, but what are the levels and concentrations of these compounds in the flowers themselves?
Reply »

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