Cyclamen hederifolium | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Primulaceae |
Genus: | Cyclamen |
Species: | C. hederifolium |
Binomial name | |
Cyclamen hederifolium | |
Synonyms | |
Cyclamen neapolitanum Ten. |
Cyclamen hederifolium, the ivy-leaved cyclamen or sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. This widespread cyclamen species is widely cultivated and among the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climates. It is native to woodland, shrubland, and rocky areas in the Mediterranean region from southern France to western Turkey and on Mediterranean islands, and naturalized farther north in Europe and in the Pacific Northwest.
The species name hederifolium comes from the Latin hedera (ivy) and folium (leaf), [1] because of the shape and patterning of the leaves. The older species name, neapolitanum, refers to Naples, where the species grows.
Cyclamen hederifolium is a tuberous perennial that blooms and sprouts leaves in autumn, grows through the winter, and goes dormant before summer, when the seed capsules ripen and open.
The tuber is round-flattened and produces roots from the top and sides, leaving the base bare. In the florist's cyclamen ( Cyclamen persicum ), roots come from the bottom, leaving the top and sides bare.
The tuber becomes larger with age; older specimens commonly become more than 25 cm (10 in) across. In other species, tubers do not grow as large; Cyclamen coum usually does not reach more than 6.5 cm (2.6 in) across.
Leaves and flowers grow from buds on the exposed upper surface of the tuber
The leaves are variably shaped and colored. Depending on the specimen, leaf shape varies from heart-shaped to long and arrow-shaped, usually with 2-3 angled lobes on each side, resembling the juvenile leaves of ivy (Hedera). Leaf color varies from all-green to all-silver, but the most common is a Christmas tree or hastate pattern in silver or pewter and various shades of green.
The petiole and flower stalks of Cyclamen hederifolium grow outwards and then up, forming an "elbow". Plants in narrow pots often have a ring of leaves around the outside of the pot. From Latin, 'hederifolium' translates to Ivy-like leaves. In the closely related Cyclamen africanum , stalks grow up from the tuber without a bend near the base.
The flowers bloom from late summer to autumn and have 5 petals, usually pink, purple, or white with a streaky magenta V-shaped marking on the nose, but sometimes pure white with no markings.
The edges of the petals near the nose of the flower are curved outwards into strong auricles. These are not present in some other species, such as Cyclamen persicum. The flowers are occasionally fragrant. The shape of the flower varies from long and thin to short and squat. [2]
After fertilization, the flower stem coils tightly, starting at the end, and rests above the tuber. Seeds are amber, held in a round pod, which opens by 5-10 flaps at maturity.
Cyclamen hederifolium is usually listed as the hardiest species of cyclamen. In oceanic climates, it self-seeds abundantly and will crowd out less vigorous species such as Cyclamen coum if the two are planted together. In cold continental climates such as Calgary, Alberta, where Cyclamen purpurascens grows well, it may not survive. [3] DavesGarden.com lists it as hardy to zone 5a (−20 °F or −29 °C), although hardiness is dependent on presence of snow cover.
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit [4] (confirmed 2017). [5]
There are two varieties or subspecies (hederifolium and confusum), and var. hederifolium has two named forms, differentiated by leaf and flower characteristics.
The variety Cyclamen hederifolium var. poli, with long sagittate (arrowhead-shaped) leaves, is listed by the Pacific Bulb Society.
In chromosome count, var. confusum is tetraploid, while var. hederifolium is diploid.
Recently var. confusum has been elevated to the level of species as Cyclamen confusum, [7] although this is not reflected on GRIN. [8]
There are a number of cultivated varieties of Cyclamen hederifolium.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Amaze me', a cultivar with dark-pink flowers, is early blooming
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Ruby Glow' has particularly deep all-magenta flowers. [9]
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Stargazer' has upward-facing flowers. [10]
Tropaeolum, commonly known as nasturtium, is a genus of roughly 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum, and is the only genus in the family Tropaeolaceae. The nasturtiums received their common name because they produce an oil similar to that of watercress.
Hypericum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae. The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many Hypericum species are regarded as invasive species and noxious weeds. All members of the genus may be referred to as St. John's wort, and some are known as goatweed. The white or pink flowered marsh St. John's worts of North America and eastern Asia are generally accepted as belonging to the separate genus TriadenumRaf.
Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. In English, it is known by the common names sowbread or swinebread. Cyclamen species are native to Europe and the Mediterranean Basin east to the Caucasus and Iran, with one species in Somalia. They grow from tubers and are valued for their flowers with upswept petals and variably patterned leaves.
A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have an underground storage organ are called geophytes in the Raunkiær plant life-form classification system. Storage organs often, but not always, act as perennating organs which enable plants to survive adverse conditions.
Hedera hibernica, the Atlantic ivy, Boston ivy or Irish ivy, is a species of ivy native to the Atlantic coast of Europe.
Cyclamen cyprium is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to woodland at 300–1,200 m (980–3,940 ft) elevation in the mountains of Cyprus. It is the national flower. Cyclamen persicum and Cyclamen graecum are also found on Cyprus, but are not endemic.
Cyclamen graecum, the Greek cyclamen, is a perennial plant in the flowering plant family Primulaceae that grows from a tuber. It is native to southern Greece, southern Turkey and neighboring islands and is prized for its variable leaf forms, which include some of the most striking of any cyclamen.
Cyclamen purpurascens, the Alpine, European or purple cyclamen, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cyclamen of the family Primulaceae, native to central Europe, northern Italy, and Slovenia. It is an evergreen tuberous perennial with (usually) variegated leaves, and deep pink flowers in summer.
Cyclamen coum, the eastern sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is a tuberous herbaceous perennial, growing to 5–8 cm (2–3 in), with rounded heart-shaped leaves and pink shell-shaped flowers with darker coloration at the base. It is valued in horticulture as groundcover, and for the flowers which bloom in winter and early spring.
Cyclamen persicum, the Persian cyclamen, is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant growing from a tuber, native to rocky hillsides, shrubland, and woodland up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level, from south-central Turkey to Lebanon-Syria and the Palestine region. It also grows in Algeria and Tunisia and on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Crete, where it may have been introduced by monks. Cultivars of this species are the commonly seen florist's cyclamen.
Cyclamen cilicium is a species of flowering perennial plant in the family Primulaceae. It is native to coniferous woodland at 700–2,000 m (2,300–6,600 ft) elevation in the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey.
Cyclamen parviflorum, the small-flowered cyclamen is a flowering perennial plant growing from a tuber, native to high elevations in the Pontic Mountains of northern Turkey. It is the smallest cyclamen species and the only one native to alpine tundra.
Cyclamen rohlfsianum is a species of perennial plant in the family Primulaceae. It is endemic to Libya. It grows from a tuber in shrubland, especially in limestone cracks, up to 450 m (1,500 ft) above sea level. It is one of the tenderest cyclamen species. The plant was discovered by Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs in 1879, and was named after him in 1897 by Paul Friedrich August Ascherson.
Cyclamen alpinum is a perennial plant growing from a tuber, native to an area of southwestern Turkey, northwest of Antalya. It is isolated from other species of the Cyclamen coum group.
Cyclamen repandum, the spring sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to southern Europe and some Mediterranean islands. It is the most widespread of a group of cyclamens with wide, heart-shaped leaves, often coarsely toothed or lobed, and late spring-blooming flowers with long, slender petals.
Cyclamen elegans is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to the Alborz Mountains in northern Iran and southeastern Azerbaijan. It is native to forest in the Alborz Mountains of northwestern Iran and extreme southeastern Azerbaijan below 500 m (1,600 ft) elevation, where it can even be found growing in moss on the lower limbs of trees.
Cyclamen pseudibericum, the false Iberian cyclamen, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cyclamen of the family Primulaceae, native to the Amanus or Nur and Anti-Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey. It is an herbaceous, tuberous perennial growing to 12 cm (5 in). It is similar to Cyclamen coum, but with longer petals.
Cyclamen mirabile, sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. A tufted, tuberous herbaceous perennial growing to 10 cm (3.9 in), it is native to Turkish pine woodland and maquis in southwestern Turkey. It belongs to the Cyclamen cilicium group of the genus Cyclamen. The species was identified and named in 1906.
Cyclamen rhodium is a species of flowering plant in genus Cyclamen of the family Primulaceae, native to the Peloponnese, Rhodes, and southwestern Kos. It is a tuberous perennial growing to 10 cm (4 in), with mottled, heart-shaped leaves and pink flowers, darker carmine pink at the base, appearing in spring. Like all cyclamens, the flowers consist of five upswept, reflexed petals.
Cyclamen creticum, commonly known as Cretan sowbread, is a small perennial herb endemic to Crete and Karpathos. It is closely related to Cyclamen repandum, and both are placed in subgenus Psilanthum. Some authorities consider C. creticum to be a subspecies of C. repandum.