Cyclamen hederifolium
Encyclopedia
Cyclamen hederifolium (ivy-leaved cyclamen) is the most widespread cyclamen
species
, the most widely cultivated
after the florist's cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum
), and the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climate
s. It is native to woodland
, shrubland
, and rocky
areas in the Mediterranean region
from southern France
to western Turkey
and on Mediterranean island
s, and naturalized farther north in Europe
and in the Pacific Northwest
.
, where the species grows.
ous perennial that blooms and sprouts leaves in autumn
, grows through the winter
, and goes dormant
before summer
, when the seed pods ripen and open.
is round-flattened and produces root
s 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 flower
s grow from bud
s on top.
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 leaf
and flower stalk
s 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. In the closely related Cyclamen africanum
, stalks grow up from the tuber without a bend near the base.
s bloom from late summer
to autumn
and have 5 petal
s, usually pink, purple, or white with a streaky magenta V
-shaped marking on the nose, but sometimes pure white with no markings.
The petal bases 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.
coils tightly, starting at the end, and rests above the tuber. Seed
s are amber, held in a round pod
, which opens
by 5-10 flaps at maturity.
s, it self-seeds abundantly and will crowd out less vigorous species such as Cyclamen coum
if the two are planted together. In cold continental climate
s such as Calgary
, Alberta
, where Cyclamen purpurascens
grows well, it may not survive. DavesGarden.com lists it as hardy to zone
5a (-20 F), although hardiness is dependent on presence of snow cover.
(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.
, var. confusum is tetraploid, while var. hederifolium is diploid.
Recently var. confusum has been elevated to the level of species as Cyclamen confusum, although this is not reflected on GRIN
.
of Cyclamen hederifolium.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Ruby Glow' has particularly deep all-magenta flowers.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Stargazer' has upward-facing flowers.
Cyclamen
Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennials growing from tubers, valued for their flowers with upswept petals and variably patterned leaves...
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, the most widely cultivated
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
after the florist's cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum
Cyclamen persicum
Cyclamen persicum, the Persian cyclamen, is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to rocky hillsides, shrubland, and woodland up to above sea level from south-central Turkey to Israel and Jordan. It also grows in Algeria and Tunisia and on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Crete,...
), and the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climate
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
s. It is native to woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, shrubland
Shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
, and rocky
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
areas in the Mediterranean region
Mediterranean Basin
In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation...
from southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to western Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and on Mediterranean island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s, and naturalized farther north in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
.
Names
The species name hederifolium comes from hedera "ivy" and folium "leaf", because of the shape and patterning of the leaves. The older species name, neapolitanum, refers to NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, where the species grows.
Description
Cyclamen hederifolium is a tuberTuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
ous perennial that blooms and sprouts leaves in autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
, grows through the winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
, and goes dormant
Dormancy
Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and physical activity are temporarily stopped. This minimizes metabolic activity and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy. Dormancy tends to be closely associated with environmental conditions...
before summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
, when the seed pods ripen and open.
Tuber
The tuberTuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
is round-flattened and produces root
Root
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
s from the top and sides, leaving the base bare. In the florist's cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum
Cyclamen persicum
Cyclamen persicum, the Persian cyclamen, is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to rocky hillsides, shrubland, and woodland up to above sea level from south-central Turkey to Israel and Jordan. It also grows in Algeria and Tunisia and on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Crete,...
), 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
Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen coum is one of a group of cyclamens with stubby flowers and nearly round leaves. Species of the group are native to areas near the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and the Black and Caspian Seas, from sea level to alpine tundra.-Etymology:The species name is the adjective of a place name...
usually does not reach more than 6.5 cm (2.6 in) across.
Leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
and flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s grow from bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
s on top.
Leaves
The leavesLeaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
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
Ivy
Ivy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...
(Hedera). Leaf color varies from all-green to all-silver, but the most common is a Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
or hastate pattern in silver or pewter and various shades of green.
The leaf
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
and flower stalk
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
s 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. In the closely related Cyclamen africanum
Cyclamen africanum
Cyclamen africanum is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to northern Algeria and Tunisia. It is similar to Cyclamen hederifolium, but not frost-hardy.-Description:...
, stalks grow up from the tuber without a bend near the base.
Flowers
The flowerFlower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s bloom from late summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
to autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
and have 5 petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s, usually pink, purple, or white with a streaky magenta V
V
V is the twenty-second letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Letter:The letter V comes from the Semitic letter Waw, as do the modern letters F, U, W, and Y. See F for details....
-shaped marking on the nose, but sometimes pure white with no markings.
The petal bases are curved outwards into strong auricles
Auricle (botany)
In botany, an auricle is a small ear-like projection from the base of a leaf or petal....
. These are not present in some other species, such as Cyclamen persicum.
The flowers are occasionally fragrant
Aroma compound
An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor...
.
The shape of the flower varies from long and thin to short and squat.
Fruit
After fertilization, the flower stemPedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
coils tightly, starting at the end, and rests above the tuber. Seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s are amber, held in a round pod
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
, which opens
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...
by 5-10 flaps at maturity.
Cultivation
Cyclamen hederifolium is usually listed as the hardiest species of cyclamen. In oceanic climateOceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
s, it self-seeds abundantly and will crowd out less vigorous species such as Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen coum is one of a group of cyclamens with stubby flowers and nearly round leaves. Species of the group are native to areas near the coasts of the eastern Mediterranean and the Black and Caspian Seas, from sea level to alpine tundra.-Etymology:The species name is the adjective of a place name...
if the two are planted together. In cold continental climate
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
s such as Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, where Cyclamen purpurascens
Cyclamen purpurascens
Cyclamen purpurascens is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to continental Europe. It is the cyclamen with the northmost natural range and one of the hardiest, grown outdoors as far north as Calgary, Alberta.-Etymology:The species name purpurāscēns is a present participle from the Latin verb...
grows well, it may not survive. DavesGarden.com lists it as hardy to zone
Hardiness zone
A hardiness zone is a geographically defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone...
5a (-20 F), although hardiness is dependent on presence of snow cover.
Varieties and forms
There are two varieties or subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
(hederifolium and confusum), and var. hederifolium has two named forms
Form (botany)
In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...
, differentiated by leaf and flower characteristics.
- Cyclamen hederifolium var. hederifolium — leaves with well defined markings
- C. hederifolium var. hederifolium forma hederifolium — pink or purple flowers with darker markings at the base of the petals
- C. hederifolium var. hederifolium forma albiflorum — white flowers, sometimes with pale pink throat
- Cyclamen hederifolium var. confusum — fleshier leaves with poorly defined markings
The variety Cyclamen hederifolium var. poli, with long sagittate (arrowhead
Arrowhead
An arrowhead is a tip, usually sharpened, added to an arrow to make it more deadly or to fulfill some special purpose. Historically arrowheads were made of stone and of organic materials; as human civilization progressed other materials were used...
-shaped) leaves, is listed by the Pacific Bulb Society.
Cyclamen confusum
In chromosome countPolyploidy
Polyploid is a term used to describe cells and organisms containing more than two paired sets of chromosomes. Most eukaryotic species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes — one set inherited from each parent. However polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common...
, var. confusum is tetraploid, while var. hederifolium is diploid.
Recently var. confusum has been elevated to the level of species as Cyclamen confusum, although this is not reflected on GRIN
Germplasm Resources Information Network
Germplasm Resources Information Network or GRIN is an online software project of National Genetic Resources Program of USDA to provide germplasm information about plants, animals, microbes and invertebrates.-Sub-Projects:...
.
Cultivars
There are a number of cultivated varietiesCultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
of Cyclamen hederifolium.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Ruby Glow' has particularly deep all-magenta flowers.
Cyclamen hederifolium 'Stargazer' has upward-facing flowers.
Sources
- Cyclamen: a guide for gardeners, horticulturists, and botanists by C. Grey-Wilson (Google Books)