Persian cyclamen

Description

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. Wild plants have heart-shaped leaves, up to 14 cm (6 in) usually green with lighter marbling on the upper surface. It grows as a perennial, herbaceous plant that reaches heights of growth up to 32 cm (13 in). As a storage and persistence organ it forms a perennial hypocotyl tuber. It arises solely through a thickening of the hypocotyl, the shoot axis area between the root neck and the first cotyledon. The rounded, slightly flattened at the age tuber contains about 4 to 15 cm or more than 15 cm in diameter. It is of corked consistency. Their roots spring from the underside, and the tops of the spirally arranged, long-stalked leaves of the plant spring from the top. The length and width of the heart-shaped leaf blade varies between 3 and 14 cm. It is of fleshy texture and smoothly structured. The leaf margin is slightly thickened and usually serrated. Rarely does it form edges or rags. The upper leaf surface often has a green-silvery marbled colour drawing, the leaf underside may be pale green or reddish. The natural range of Cyclamen persicum extends from North Africa across West Asia to Southeast Europe. In particular, the following occurrences are documented: In North Africa, the species is represented in the northern and eastern parts of Algeria and in northern Tunisia. In Western Asia, stocks were confirmed in Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, western Syria and western Turkey. In the eastern part of Greece, the only deposits in Europe could be occupied. The preferred growing sites include pine forests, oak thickets and open rocky slopes mostly on calcareous soils up to an altitude of 1000 meters. In the summer months, the high temperature and the dryness lead to the death of the aerial plant parts. The plants outlast the dry season in their shallow subterranean tubers. They then drift off again at the beginning of the colder season.