Subgenus Psilanthum Rank Species | ||
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Similar Cyclamen balearicum, Cyclamen cilicium, Cyclamen libanoticum, Cyclamen graecum, Cyclamen hederifolium | ||
Cyclamen repandum
Cyclamen repandum, the spring sowbread, is a species of flowering plant of the family Primulaceae, native to southern Europe and some Mediterranean islands. It is the most widespread of a group of cyclamens (genus Cyclamen subgenus Psilanthum) with wide, heart-shaped leaves, often coarsely toothed or lobed, and late spring-blooming flowers with long, slender petals.
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Etymology
The name of the subgenus, Psilanthum, comes from Ancient Greek psilós "bare" and ánthos "flower". The species name repandum is Latin for "bent back" or "turned up".
Description
Cyclamen repandum grows in rocky areas, shrubland, and woodland near the Mediterranean from southeastern France through Italy to Serbia and on Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily. The tuber of the C. repandum group roots only from the center of the bottom. Leaves are dark green with a lighter arrowhead pattern, not speckled. Flowers are deep carmine-pink or white, without a darker nose. They lack the auricles present in Cyclamen hederifolium.
The subspecies C. repandum subsp. repandum (wavy-edged cyclamen) has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Similar species
The Cyclamen repandum group also includes C. rhodium, C. balearicum, and C. creticum.
Hybrids
When species of the Cyclamen repandum group are growing together, hybrids can emerge:
