Cyclamen purpurascens
Encyclopedia
Cyclamen purpurascens (Alpine or European cyclamen) 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
.
participle
from the Latin
verb
purpurāscō "become purple".
or mixed woodland
, especially among beech
es and over limestone
, at 250–1300 m (820.2–4,265.1 ft) above sea level
in continental Europe
from eastern France
across the Alps
to Poland
and south to Bosnia and Herzegovina
to autumn
, keeps its leaves through the winter, and produces seeds and new leaves the next summer.
s and leaves
come from bud
s at the top of a round-flattened tuber
. Root
s come from the sides and bottom.
Older tubers may become distorted, forming "fingers" with separate growth points. Misshapen tubers are also found in Cyclamen rohlfsianum
.
to mid-autumn
, appearing before or with the leaves, and have 5 upswept pink or magenta petal
s, rarely white, often with a darker nose. Flowers are fragrant
.
In many specimens, the edges of the petals at the nose of the flower are curled into auricles
, although less prominent than those of Cyclamen hederifolium
.
, which is always prominently toothed.
Leaf color varies from all-green to all-silver, but the most common pattern is green with light green to silver marbling that roughly follows the outline of the leaf. The underside is red-purple.
Because of the cool and moist climate in the plant's native range, it is almost evergreen: new leaves appear in summer while the old leaves are fading. All other cyclamens, except for Cyclamen parviflorum
and the closely related Cyclamen colchicum, are summer-dormant
in their native range.
coils tightly, starting at the end. Seed
s, amber when ripe, are held in a round pod
, which ripens the summer a year after flowering and opens
by 5-10 flaps.
, distinguished by flower color:
Mountains in Slovakia
, which has plain leaves (either matt
or shiny) and larger and more abundant flowers.
in the Julian Alps
of Slovenia
, and the Limone or Lake Garda form (silver with a very thin green border and gray arrowhead pattern in the center), selected from plants near Limone sul Garda
near Lake Garda
in Italy
.
Other leaf patterns in the Lake Garda area include dark green with silver or lighter green marbling and plain green.
'Green Ice', developed by Jan Bravenboer of Green Ice Nursery in the Netherlands
, has a Christmas tree–shaped silver center and broad green margin. 'Green Lake' is similar, but has a light green zone in the center of the silver.
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
growing from a 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...
, native to continental 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...
. It is the cyclamen
Cyclamen
Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of perennials growing from tubers, valued for their flowers with upswept petals and variably patterned leaves...
with the northmost natural range and one of the hardiest, grown outdoors as far north 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...
.
Etymology
The species name purpurāscēns is a presentPresent tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
participle
Participle
In linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
purpurāscō "become purple".
Distribution
Cyclamen purpurascens is native to deciduousDeciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
or mixed 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...
, especially among beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
es and over limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, at 250–1300 m (820.2–4,265.1 ft) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
in continental 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...
from eastern 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...
across the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and south to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
Description
Cyclamen purpurascens blooms from summerSummer
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....
, keeps its leaves through the winter, and produces seeds and new leaves the next summer.
Tuber
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 and 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....
come 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 at the top of a round-flattened 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...
. 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 come from the sides and bottom.
Older tubers may become distorted, forming "fingers" with separate growth points. Misshapen tubers are also found in Cyclamen rohlfsianum
Cyclamen rohlfsianum
Cyclamen rohlfsianum is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to shrubland, especially in limestone cracks, up to above sea level in a small area of northeastern Libya...
.
Flowers
Flowers bloom from summerSummer
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 mid-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....
, appearing before or with the leaves, and have 5 upswept pink or magenta 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, rarely white, often with a darker nose. Flowers are fragrant
Aroma compound
An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor...
.
In many specimens, the edges of the petals at the nose of the flower are curled into auricles
Auricle (botany)
In botany, an auricle is a small ear-like projection from the base of a leaf or petal....
, although less prominent than those of Cyclamen hederifolium
Cyclamen hederifolium
Cyclamen hederifolium is the most widespread cyclamen species, the most widely cultivated after the florist's cyclamen , and the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climates...
.
Leaves
Leaves are kidney-shaped to heart-shaped, as wide as long or wider. The leaf edge is smooth or slightly toothed, unlike the closely related species Cyclamen colchicumCyclamen colchicum
Cyclamen colchicum is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to densely shaded areas among rocks or tree roots in woodland on limestone at elevation in the autonomous republic of Adjara in Georgia, about from the range of the closely related species Cyclamen purpurascens. Unlike C...
, which is always prominently toothed.
Leaf color varies from all-green to all-silver, but the most common pattern is green with light green to silver marbling that roughly follows the outline of the leaf. The underside is red-purple.
Because of the cool and moist climate in the plant's native range, it is almost evergreen: new leaves appear in summer while the old leaves are fading. All other cyclamens, except for Cyclamen parviflorum
Cyclamen parviflorum
Cyclamen parviflorum is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to high elevations in the Pontic Mountains of northern Turkey. It is the smallest cyclamen species and the only one native to alpine tundra....
and the closely related Cyclamen colchicum, are summer-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...
in their native range.
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. 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, amber when ripe, are 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 ripens the summer a year after flowering and 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.
Flower forms
Cyclamen purpurascens has three naturally occurring formsForm (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...
, distinguished by flower color:
- Cyclamen purpurascens f.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...
purpurascens — pink to purple flowers - Cyclamen purpurascens f. carmineolineatum — white flowers with thin band of carmineCarmineCarmine , also called Crimson Lake, Cochineal, Natural Red #4, C.I. 75470, or E120, is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminum salt of carminic acid, which is produced by some scale insects, such as the cochineal beetle and the Polish cochineal, and is used as a general term for...
- Cyclamen purpurascens f. album — all-white flowers
Plain leaf
Plain leaf forms have all-green leaves. A distinct plain-leaf form is the Fatra form, also called Cyclamen fatrense (misspelled fatranse), from the FatraGreater Fatra
Greater Fatra or Veľká Fatra is a mountain range in the Western Carpathians in Slovakia. In the geomorphological system, it is a part of the Fatra-Tatra Area. It is situated approximately among the towns of Ružomberok, Harmanec, Turčianske Teplice and Martin...
Mountains in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, which has plain leaves (either matt
Gloss (material appearance)
Gloss is an optical property, which is based on the interaction of light with physical characteristics of a surface. It is actually the ability of a surface to reflect light into the specular direction. The factors that affect gloss are the refractive index of the material, the angle of incident...
or shiny) and larger and more abundant flowers.
Silver leaf
Plants of the Silver Leaf Group have silver on the leaves. Subtypes include the Lake Bled form (silver with a netted pattern of veins near the margin), selected from plants near Lake BledLake Bled
Lake Bled is a glacial lake in the Julian Alps in northwestern Slovenia, where it adjoins the town of Bled. The area is a popular tourist destination.-Geography and history:...
in the Julian Alps
Julian Alps
The Julian Alps are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav. They are named after Julius Caesar, who founded the municipium of Cividale del Friuli at the foot of the mountains...
of Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, and the Limone or Lake Garda form (silver with a very thin green border and gray arrowhead pattern in the center), selected from plants near Limone sul Garda
Limone sul Garda
Limone sul Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy , on the shore of Lake Garda.-History:Despite the presence of famous cultivations of lemons , the town's name is probably derived from the ancient lemos or limes Limone sul Garda is a town and comune in the province of...
near Lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Other leaf patterns in the Lake Garda area include dark green with silver or lighter green marbling and plain green.
Cultivars
The cultivated varietyCultivar
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...
'Green Ice', developed by Jan Bravenboer of Green Ice Nursery in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, has a Christmas tree–shaped silver center and broad green margin. 'Green Lake' is similar, but has a light green zone in the center of the silver.
External links
- Cyclamen Society
- Germplasm Resources Information Network
- PlantFiles
- Paghat's Garden
- CalPhotos
- photos of regular form;
Cyclamen fatrense (BOTANY.cz) Cyclamen fatrense (photos) — Atlas Rastlín, Nahuby.sk - photo of Lake Bled form, pods and leaves — GardenBuddies Forum;
flowers: Slovenia 2008 (Julian Alps) — Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum - photo of plain-leaved form (Bulb Log Diary, 30th July 2008)