Cyclamen purpurascens

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. Cyclamen
Series: C. ser. Purpurascens
Species: Cyclamen purpurascens
Name

Cyclamen purpurascens Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8: Cyclamen no. 2 (1768).

Lectotype: (designated by Compton in Compton et al. 2008: 25): cult. Chelsea Physic Garden without date. "Cyclamen purpurascens Mill. Dict. no 2!" (BM 0007n54954).

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Cyclamen aestivum Rchb., Fl. Germ. Excurs. 407 (1831).
Cyclamen breviflorum Jord. in Jord. & Fourreau, Icon. Fl. Eur. 3: 18 (1903).
Type: Ic. Fl Eur. pl. CCCCIX.
Cyclamen clusii Lindl., Bot. Reg. 12: t. 1013 (1827).
Type: Hort. Florence, as t. 1013
Cyclamen cordifolium Stokes, Bot. Mat. Med. 1: 295 (1812).
Cyclamen cyclophyllum Jord. in Jord. & Fourreau, Icon. Fl. Eur. 3: 18 (1903).
Type: Ic. Fl Eur. pl. CCCCX.
Cyclamen deltoideum Tausch, Flora 12: 667 (1829).
Typus: “im Canalischen Garten gezogen”
Cyclamen europaeum L., Sp. Pl. 145 (1753), nom. utique rejic.
Lectotype: (designated by Cafferty & Grey-Wilson (1998): Herb. Burser XVII: 89 (UPS).
Cyclamen europaeum L. var. typicum Albov, Bull. Herb. Boiss. 2: 254 (1894). nom. inval.
Cyclaminus europaea (L.) Asch., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 10: 235 (1892).
Cyclamen europaeum var. germanicum Merrem, Handb. Pflanzenk. 2: 82 (1809).
Cyclamen europaeum var. immaculatum Hrabětová, Českoslov. Bot. Listy 3: 35 (1950).
Cyclamen purpurascens subsp. immaculatum (Hrabětová) Halda & Soják, Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 6: 322 (1971). DOI: 10.1007/BF02851834
Cyclamen fatrense Halda & Soják, Čas. Nár. Mus., Odd. Přír. 140: 64 (1971).
Type: Slovakia, Velkafatra, 550 m, July 1971, Halda & Sojak s.n. (holotype PR)
Cyclamen floridum Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton 119 (1796).
Cyclamen hastatum Tausch, Flora 12: 668 (1829).
Typus: “im Canalischen Garten gezogen”
Cyclamen holochlorum Jord. in Jord. & Fourreau, Icon. Fl. Eur. 3: 19 (1903).
Type: Ic. Fl Eur. pl. CCCCXII (516).
Cyclamen lilacinum Jord. in Jord. & Fourreau, Icon. Fl. Eur. 3: 19 (1903).
Type: Ic. Fl Eur. pl. CCCCXII (515).
Cyclamen littorale Sadler ex Rchb., Fl. Germ. Excurs. 406 (1831).
Cyclamen × marxii Halda, Skalničky 1973(1): 28 (1973). (C. fatrense Halda & Soják × C. purpurascens Mill.)
Type: Cultivated material
Cyclamen officinale Wender. ex Steud., Nomencl. Bot. ed. 2, 1: 458 (1840), pro syn.
Cyclamen purpurascens f. album Grey-Wilson, Cyclamen Guide Gard., Hort. & Botanists 174 (1997).
Cyclamen purpurascens f. carmineolineatum Hendrikx, Saussurea 31: 102 (2001) [2000 publ. 2001].
Cyclamen retroflexum Moench, Suppl. Meth. 177 (1802), nom. illeg.
Cyclamen rotundifolium St.-Lag., Étude Fl. ed. 8, 2: 573 (1889).
Cyclamen europaeum lusus tetramerum Murr, Neu. Übers. Bl.-Pfl. Vorarlberg 2: 236 (1923). nom. inval.
Cyclamen europaeum lusus trimerum Murr, Neu. Übers. Bl.-Pfl. Vorarlberg 2: 236 (1923). nom. inval.
Cyclamen umbratile Jord. in Jord. & Fourreau, Icon. Fl. Eur. 3: 18 (1903).
Type: Ic. Fl Eur. pl. CCCCXI.
Cyclamen variegatum Pohl, Tent. Fl. Bohem. 1: 192 (1809). nom. illeg.
Misapplied names
Cyclamen orbiculatum Clairv., Man. herbor. Suisse 59 (1811). nom. illeg. non Mill., Gard. Dict. ed. 8 (1768).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Middle Europe
Austria, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic, Slovakia), Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland.
Regional: Southwestern Europe
France.
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Italy, Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia).

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.

Additional references

Cyclamen purpurascens, the Alpine, European or purple cyclamen, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cyclamen of the family Primulaceae, native to central Europe, northern Italy, and Slovenia. It is an evergreen tuberous perennial with (usually) variegated leaves, and deep pink flowers in summer.[1][2][3]

Etymology

The species name purpurāscēns is a present participle from the Latin verb purpurāscō "become purple".[4]
Distribution

Cyclamen purpurascens grows in deciduous or mixed woodland, especially among beeches and over limestone, at 250–1,300 m (800–4,300 ft) above sea level in continental Europe from eastern France across the Alps to Poland and south to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also found in mountainous parts of Romania and western Russia, where it has been introduced.
Description

C. purpurascens blooms from summer to autumn, keeps its leaves through the winter, and produces seeds and new leaves the next summer.
Tuber

Flowers and leaves come from buds at the top of a round-flattened tuber. Roots come from the sides and bottom. Older tubers may become distorted, forming "fingers" with separate growth points.[5] Misshapen tubers are also found in Cyclamen rohlfsianum.
Flowers

Flowers appear before or with the leaves, and have 5 upswept petals. Flowers are sweetly scented, ranging in color from pale rose-pink to purple or rose-carmine and are 17 to 25 mm (0.67 to 0.98 in) long. Petals are elliptical and twisted, often curled into auricles, although less prominent than those of Cyclamen hederifolium. Forma "album" has white flowers, though it is more difficult to establish. 'Lake Garda' has silver leaves and pink flowers.[1]

This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6]
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 colchicum, 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 the closely related Cyclamen colchicum, are summer-dormant in their native range.
Fruit

After fertilization, the flower stem coils tightly, starting at the end. Seeds, amber when ripe, are held in a round pod, which ripens the summer a year after flowering and opens by 5-10 flaps.
Subdivisions
Flower forms

Cyclamen purpurascens has three naturally occurring forms, distinguished by flower color:

Cyclamen purpurascens f. purpurascens — pink to purple flowers
Cyclamen purpurascens f. carmineolineatum — white flowers with thin band of carmine
Cyclamen purpurascens f. album — all-white flowers

Leaf forms
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 Fatra Mountains in Slovakia, which has plain leaves (either matt 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 Bled 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.[7]
Cultivars

The cultivated variety '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.[8]
Gallery

Two plants in a garden in Karlsruhe, Germany

A plain-leaved form at Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

A plain-leaved form in Jesenice, Slovenia

A silver-leaved form with light pink flowers

References

Christopher Grey-Wilson (16 September 2009). The Rock Garden Plant Primer: Easy, Small Plants for Containers, Patios, and the Open Garden. Timber Press. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-0-88192-928-7. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
"Cyclamen purpurascens". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
purpurāscō. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. A Latin Dictionary on Perseus Project.
Unusual Cyclamen purpurascens growth behaviour (photos of tuber). Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum.
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=611[permanent dead link]
Cyclamen around Lago di Garda. Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum.

Seed list. Green Ice Nursery.

Books

C. Grey-Wilson. Cyclamen: a guide for gardeners, horticulturists, and botanists. 1997.

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. 156–167 Reference page.
Cafferty, S. & Grey-Wilson, C. 1998. (1354) Proposal to reject the name Cyclamen europaeum (Primulaceae). Taxon 47(2): 479–480. JSTOR

Links

USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Cyclamen purpurascens in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.
The Plant List 2013. Cyclamen purpurascens in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2016 Feb 10.
Buttler, K.P., Thieme, M. & co-workers: Florenliste von Deutschland – Gefäßpflanzen. Version 7. Frankfurt am Main, August 2015.

Vernacular names
čeština: brambořík nachový
Deutsch: Wildes Alpenveilchen
suomi: Alppisyklaami
magyar: Erdei ciklámen
slovenčina: cyklámen purpurový