Cyclamen coum

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Ericales

Familia: Primulaceae
Subfamilia: Myrsinoideae
Genus: Cyclamen
Subgenus: C. subg. Gyrophoebe
Series: C. ser. Pubipedia
Species: Cyclamen coum
Subspecies: C. c. subsp. caucasicum – C. c. subsp. coum
Name

Cyclamen coum Mill., Gard. dict. ed. 8: Cyclamen no. 6. (1768).

Lectotypus (designated by Compton in Compton et al. 2008: 28): cult. "Cyclamen vernum minus orbiculato folio, inferne rubente flore minore ruberrimo. Mor. Hist 3. 551". Chelsea Physic Garden presented to the Royal Society in 1756 as specimen no. 1730. (BM 000754953).

Synonyms

Homotypic
Cyclamen orbiculatum Mill. var. coum (Mill.) J.Door., Meded. Landbouwhogeschool 50: 25 (1950). PDF
Cyclaminus coa (Mill.) Asch., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 10: 235 (1892).
Cyclaminus coum (Mill.) Bergmans, Vaste Pl. Rotsheesters 158 (1924). nom. illeg.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey-in-Europe.
Regional: Eastern Europe
Krym.
Continental: Asia-Temperate
Regional: Caucasus
North Caucasus (Krasnodar), Transcaucasus (Abkhaziya, Adzhariya, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Gruziya).
Regional: Western Asia
Lebanon-Syria (Lebanon, Syria), Palestine (Israel), Turkey.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Miller, P. 1768. The Gardeners Dictionary: containing the best and newest methods of cultivating and improving the kitchen, fruit, flower garden, and nursery. Ed. 8, 3 volumes (without pagination), John & Francis Rivington, London. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.541 Reference page.
Doorenbos, J. 1950. Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Cyclamen. Mededelingen van de Landbouwhogeschool te Wageningen 50(2): 19–29, fig 1–4. PDF. Reference page.

Additional references

Compton, J.A., Culham, A. & Sparkes, B. 2008. Typification of some Cyclamen names. Cyclamen, J. Cyclamen Soc. 32(1): 22–30. Reference page.
Grey-Wilson, C. 2002. Cyclamen: a guide for gardeners, horticulturists and botanists. New edition. London: Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-8760-7 Reference page.
Mathew, B.F. 2013. Genus Cyclamen in Science, Cultivation, Art and Culture. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ISBN 978-1-84246-472-4, p. 46–57 Reference page.
Schwarz, O. 1938. Cyclamen-Studien. Gartenflora, N.F. 1938: 11–38. Reference page.

Links

USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Cyclamen coum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.
The Plant List 2013. Cyclamen coum in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2016 May 5.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Vorfrühlings-Alpenveilchen
suomi: Balkaninsyklaami
magyar: Kislevelű ciklámen
Nederlands: Wilde voorjaarsbloeiende cyclaam

Cyclamen coum, the eastern sowbread,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. It is a tuberous herbaceous perennial, growing to 5–8 cm (2–3 in), with rounded heart-shaped leaves and pink shell-shaped flowers with darker coloration at the base. It is valued in horticulture as groundcover, and for the flowers which bloom in winter and early spring.[2]

Description

The tuber produces roots from the center of the bottom only.[3] It remains small, only reaching about 6.5 cm (2.6 in) across.

The leaves are round or kidney-shaped to long heart-shaped. The color is all-silver, all-green, or silver variegated with a variably sized green hastate (arrowhead-shaped) or "Christmas tree" pattern and a green edge. The edge is smooth or gently toothed, but never angled and pointed as in Cyclamen hederifolium.

The flowers are squat, with almost round petals, unlike any other group of cyclamen species. They bloom from winter to spring. The petals are magenta, pink, or white, with a darker blotch at the base. Below the blotch is a small white or pink "eye".
Etymology

The species name coum more likely refers to Koa or Quwê (an ancient region in eastern Cilicia, southeastern Turkey), which is part of the species' natural range, than to the island of Kos, where the species does not grow.[4]
Distribution

Cyclamen coum is native to two areas. The main range is around the Black Sea, from Bulgaria through northern Turkey to the Caucasus and Crimea, and a disjunct population lies near the Mediterranean from the Hatay Province in Turkey through Lebanon to northern Israel.

Cyclamen coum subsp. coum inhabits the western part of the main range and the southern area, while C. coum subsp. caucasicum inhabits the eastern part, including the Caucasus. Plants with intermediate characteristics are found in the middle of the range.
Cultivation

Cyclamen coum self-seeds and grows more slowly than Cyclamen hederifolium and is usually out-competed when the two are grown together. The species C. coum[5] and the form C. coum subsp. coum f. coum Pewter Group[6] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).[7]
Hardiness

Along with C. hederifolium and C. purpurascens, C. coum is one of the hardiest cyclamen species, growing well in an area of New York where the temperature has reached as low as −19 °F (−28 °C).
Subspecies and forms

There are two subspecies and three forms, distinguished by leaf and flower characteristics. Cyclamen elegans was formerly considered a subspecies (Cyclamen coum subsp. elegans), but is now a species in its own right.

leaf as wide or broader than long
Cyclamen coum subsp. coum (west and south) — leaf edge usually smooth, petal lobes 0.8–1.4 cm (0.3–0.6 in)
Cyclamen coum subsp. coum f. coum — petals pink to magenta, with dark markings at base of petal lobe
Cyclamen coum subsp. coum f. pallidum — petals white or very pale pink, with dark markings
Cyclamen coum subsp. coum f. albissimum — petals pure white, without markings
leaf longer than wide
Cyclamen coum subsp. caucasicum (east) — leaf wavy-edged — petals 1.2–2 cm (0.5–0.8 in)

Note: The isolate population of Crimea, formerly called Cyclamen kuznetzovii Kotov & Czernova, is now considered as a local variant of Cyclamen coum.[8][9]

Similar species

The Cyclamen coum group also includes Cyclamen abchasicum, Cyclamen elegans, Cyclamen alpinum, Cyclamen parviflorum and Cyclamen pseudibericum.

leaves wider than long
Cyclamen parviflorum

flowers tiny; leaves green

leaves longer than wide; leaf edge coarsely toothed, scalloped, or shallowly lobed
petals as long as Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen alpinum (formerly Cyclamen trochopteranthum)

petals horizontal, twisted like a propeller; leaves speckled with grey

petals longer than Cyclamen coum
Cyclamen abchasicum (formerly Cyclamen coum var. abchasicum)

taxon between Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen elegans

Cyclamen elegans (formerly Cyclamen coum subsp. elegans)
Cyclamen pseudibericum

petals with broad dark blotch and white band on nose

Hybrid

Cyclamen ×drydenii Grey-Wilson, a hybrid Cyclamen coum × Cyclamen alpinum, has intermediate characteristics, i.e., round leaves and horizontal twisted petals.
References

BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
"BULB LOG 31 --- 30th July 2008" (photos of a tuber). Scottish Rock Garden Club.
Cyclamen coum subsp. coum Pink Silverleaf at Paghat's Garden
"RHS Plant Selector - Cyclamen coum". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - C. coum subsp. coum f. coum Pewter Group". Retrieved 15 April 2020.
"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 22. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
FRITSCHIANA 55 - Floristic endemism in the Crimea[permanent dead link]
Janis Ruksans, Buried Treasures: Finding and Growing the World's Choicest Bulbs, p. 113, Timber Press, 2007 - ISBN 0-88192-818-6