Cyclamen have a
tuber, from which the leaves, flowers and roots grow. In most species
leaves come up in
autumn, grow through the
winter and then die in
spring, then the plant goes
dormant through the dry
Mediterranean summer.
Tuber The
storage organ of the
Cyclamen is a round
tuber, which develops from the
hypocotyl (the stem of a
seedling). It is often mistakenly called a
corm, but a corm (found in crocuses, for example) has a papery tunic and a basal plate from which the roots grow. The storage organ of the
Cyclamen has no papery covering and, depending on the species, roots may grow out of any part. It is therefore properly classified as a tuber (somewhat like a potato). The tuber may produce roots from the top, sides or bottom, depending on the species.
Cyclamen persicum and
Cyclamen coum root from the bottom;
Cyclamen hederifolium roots from the top and sides.
Cyclamen graecum has thick anchor roots on the bottom. The roots and tubers of
Cyclamen plants are known to contain the compound
cyclamin. The shape of the tuber may be near spherical, as in
Cyclamen coum, or flattened, as in
Cyclamen hederifolium. In some older specimens of
Cyclamen purpurascens and
Cyclamen rohlfsianum growing points on the tuber become separated by shoulders of tissue and the tuber becomes misshapen. In most other species the tuber is round in old age. Leaves and flowers sprout from growing points on the top of the tuber. Growing points that have lengthened and become like woody
stems are known as
floral trunks. The size of the tuber varies depending on species. In
Cyclamen hederifolium older tubers commonly reach across, but in
Cyclamen parviflorum tubers do not grow larger than across.
Leaves Leaves sprout from growing points or floral trunks on top of the tuber. Each leaf grows on its own stem. Leaf stems in early growth may be distinguished from flower stems by the direction their tips curl: tips of leaf stems curl upwards and those of flower stems curl downwards. The shape of the
leaves varies among the species and even among different specimens of the same species.
Cyclamen hederifolium and
Cyclamen repandum usually have leaves shaped like
ivy, with angles and lobes,
Cyclamen coum has nearly round leaves and
Cyclamen persicum has heart-shaped leaves with a pointed tip. The
leaf margin may be smooth, as in
Cyclamen coum subsp.
coum, or finely toothed, as in
Cyclamen graecum. The color of the upper side of leaves is variable, even within a species. Most species have leaves
variegated in several shades of green and silver, either in an irregular pattern of blotches or an arrowhead or Christmas-tree shape. In cultivation
Cyclamen, especially species other than
Cyclamen persicum, are selected as often for striking or unusual leaf patterns as for their flowers. The lower side of leaves is often shiny and its color varies from plain green to rich red or purple. Most
Cyclamen species originate from the Mediterranean, where summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and wet, and are summer-
dormant: their leaves sprout in the autumn, remain through the winter and wither the next spring.
Cyclamen purpurascens and
Cyclamen colchicum, however, originate from cooler regions in mountains and their leaves remain through the summer and wither only after the next year's leaves have developed.
Flowers Flowering time may be any month of the year, depending on the species.
Cyclamen hederifolium and
Cyclamen purpurascens bloom in summer and autumn,
Cyclamen persicum and
Cyclamen coum bloom in winter and
Cyclamen repandum blooms in spring. Each
flower is on a
stem coming from a growing point on the tuber. In all species the stem is normally bent 150–180° at the tip so that the nose of the flower faces downwards.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Stargazer' is an exception: its nose faces upwards. Flowers have 5
petals, bent outwards or up, sometimes twisted, and connected at the base into a cup, and five
sepals behind the cup. Petal shape varies depending on species and sometimes within the same species.
Cyclamen repandum has petals much longer than wide,
Cyclamen coum has stubby, almost round petals, and
Cyclamen hederifolium usually has petals with proportions between the two. Petal color may be white, pink or purple, often with darker color on the nose. Many species have a pink form and a white form but a few have only one color, such as
Cyclamen balearicum, which is always white. The dark color on the flower nose varies in shape:
Cyclamen persicum has a smooth band,
Cyclamen hederifolium has a streaky V and
Cyclamen coum has an M-shaped splotch with two white or pink 'eyes' beneath. In some species, such as
Cyclamen hederifolium, the petal edges at the nose are curved outwards into
auricles (Latin for 'little ears'). Most species, such as
Cyclamen persicum, have no auricles. In most species the
style protrudes 1–3 mm out of the nose of the flower but the
stamens are inside the flower. In
Cyclamen rohlfsianum, however, the cone of anthers sticks out prominently, about beyond the rim of the
corolla, similar to shooting-stars (
Primula sect. Dodecatheon).
Fruit The flower stem coils or bends when the fruit begins to form. The stems of
Cyclamen hederifolium and
Cyclamen coum coil starting at the end,
Cyclamen persicum arches downwards but does not curl,
Cyclamen rohlfsianum coils start near the tuber and
Cyclamen graecum coils in both directions, starting in the middle. The
fruit is a round
pod, which
opens by several flaps or teeth at maturity and contains numerous sticky
seeds, brown at maturity. Natural seed dispersal is by
ants (
myrmecochory), which eat the sticky covering and then discard the seeds. ==Taxonomy==