Cyclamen graecum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Cyclamen
Subgenus: C. subg. Eucosme
Species:
C. graecum
Binomial name
Cyclamen graecum

Cyclamen graecum, the Greek cyclamen,[1] 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.

Distribution

Cyclamen graecum is native to a wide variety of areas up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) elevation in southern mainland Greece, the Peloponnese, Aegean Islands, Crete, the southern coast of Turkey, and northern Cyprus.

Description

The tuber is corky, with a thick, strong, fleshy anchor, and roots sprouting from the center of the bottom.

The leaves are heart-shaped and toothed.

The flowers bloom in autumn, with five petals which are white or pink with a darker blotch at the nose. They are often fragrant. The bases of the petals are curled outwards into auricles. After pollination, the flower stem coils in both directions, starting from the center, not from the top as in Cyclamen hederifolium.

Subdivisions

Subspecies

Cyclamen graecum has three subspecies, distinguished by flower characteristics:

  • Cyclamen graecum subsp. graecum — pink flowers with a darker blotch at the nose (Greece, Aegean islands, Crete)
    • Cyclamen graecum subsp. graecum f. album — all-white flowers (Peloponnese, Rhodopou Peninsula of Crete)
  • Cyclamen graecum subsp. anatolicum Ietsw. — more slender flowers with a smaller blotch and slight auricles (southern Turkey, Rhodes, northern Cyprus). Now elevated to a separate species, Cyclamen maritimum.[2]
  • Cyclamen graecum subsp. mindleri Hildebr. (or candicum Ietsw.) white or pale pink flowers with more pronounced auricles (western Crete)

References

  1. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. ↑ The Cyclamen society - Cyclamen maritimum
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