Cyclamen libanoticum is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrsinaceae

Myrsinaceae

Myrsinaceae, or the Myrsine family, is a rather large family from the order Ericales. It consists of 35 genera and about 1000 species....

. It is native to a small area in the mountains

Mount Lebanon

Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...

 of Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 northeast of Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 at 750-1,400 m (2,500-4,600 ft) elevation. From 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:...

 to spring

Spring (season)

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...

, it bears peppery-smelling 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 with 5 oval 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 opening white, then turning pale pink, usually with an irregular crimson-magenta mark at the base. 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....

 are heart-shaped, gray-green with a darker arrowhead pattern. The tuber

Tuber

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...

 only produces roots from one side of the bottom.

Cyclamen ×wellensiekii Iets. is a hybrid obtained in 1969 in the Netherlands between this species and Cyclamen cyprium

Cyclamen cyprium

Cyclamen cyprium is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to woodland at elevation in the mountains of Cyprus. It is the national flower...

– the other species of sub-genus Corticata. This fertile hybrid has pink flowers from Novembre till March.

Cyclamen ×schwarzii Grey-Wilson is a fertile hybrid Cyclamen pseudibericum

Cyclamen pseudibericum

Cyclamen pseudibericum is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to the Amanus or Nur and Anti-Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey...

× Cyclamen libanoticum. This hybrid can cross back with one of the parents.

External links

• Cyclamen Society
• Mark Griffiths