Kingdom Plantae Family Primulaceae Subgenus Cyclamen Scientific name Cyclamen graecum Rank Species | Order Ericales Genus Cyclamen Series Persicum Higher classification Cyclamen | |
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Similar Cyclamen, Cyclamen mirabile, Cyclamen cilicium, Cyclamen africanum, Cyclamen cyprium | ||
Cyclamen graecum, the Greek cyclamen, is a perennial growing from a tuber, native to southern Greece, southern Turkey, and neighboring islands and prized for its variable leaf forms, which include some of the most striking of any cyclamen.
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Distribution
Cyclamen graecum native to a wide variety of areas up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) elevation in southern mainland Greece, the Peloponnese, Aegean Islands, Crete, the southern coast of Turkey, and northern Cyprus
Description
The tuber is corky, with thick, strong, fleshy anchor roots sprouting from the center of the bottom.
Leaves are heart-shaped and toothed.
Flowers bloom in autumn and have 5 petals, white or pink with a darker blotch at the nose. They are often fragrant. The bases of the petals are curled outwards into auricles, like Cyclamen hederifolium.
After pollination, the flower stem coils both directions, starting from the center, not from the top as in Cyclamen hederifolium.
Subspecies
Cyclamen graecum has three subspecies, distinguished by flower characteristics: