Cyclamen

Cyclamen
	Cyclamen persicum growing in a pot
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Myrsinaceae
Genus:	Cyclamen; L.

Cyclamen is a genus of 20 species of flowering plants. It is in the Myrsinaceae family. The genus is most widely known by its scientific name Cyclamen. It may also be called Persian violet (it is not related to the violets), or primrose (neither is it a primrose). This is because Cyclamen has been part of the Primulaceae families.

Cyclamen come from the Mediterranean, from Spain to Iran. They are also found from northeast Africa to Somalia. They are perennial herbaceous aestivating plants, with a surface or underground tuber (derived from the hypocotyl) 4-12 cm diameter, which produces leaves in late winter, and flowers in the autumn; the leaves die down during the hottest part of the Mediterranean summer drought to save water. Each leaf or flower grows on its own stem, which shoots up from the hypocotyl. The variegation is thought by some botanists to be a form of natural disruptive camouflage to reduce grazing damage by animals.

The hypocotyl grows leaves and flowers on stems, either one flower or one leaf per stem. The stem for leaves and flowers appears identical except in height. The leaves grow on stems of around 6 cm height.

Species

Here are the species of this genus:

Cyclamen africanum
Cyclamen alpinum
Cyclamen balearicum
Cyclamen cilicium
Cyclamen colchicum
Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen creticum
Cyclamen cyprium
Cyclamen elegans
Cyclamen graecum
Cyclamen hederifolium
Cyclamen intaminatum
Cyclamen libanoticum
Cyclamen mirabile
Cyclamen parviflorum
Cyclamen peloponnesiacumum
Cyclamen persicum
Cyclamen pseudibericum
Cyclamen purpurascens
Cyclamen repandum
Cyclamen rohlfsianum
Cyclamen somalense

Bibliography

Sundberg, M. D. 1982 Petal-stamen initiation in the genus Cyclamen (Primulaceae). American Journal of Botany 69: 1707–1709