SPECIES DESCRIPTION
CYCLAMEN GRAECUM subsp. CANDICUM
Including:- Subsp graecum
Family and Genus:- See- PRIMULACEAE
Common Names:- Greek sowbread
Homotypic Synonyms:- Cyclamen graecum subsp. mindleri, Cyclamen.
mindleri.
Meaning:- Cyclemen (Gr) Circle a name used by the Greek philosopher
Theophrastus for the coiled fruiting stalk.
Graecum (L) Greek.
Candicum (L) shining-white.
General description:- A small, slender perennial.
Tuber:-
1) 3-10 cm Æ, globose or depressed globose, corky, rooting only from
the base, with retractile roots.
Leaves:-
1) 3-7(-10) x 2·5-6(-8) cm, appearing in autumn or winter after anthesis, deeply
cordate at the base, acute or obtuse;dentate to crenulate ± cartilginous, rarely
angled.
2) Petiole, 5-17 cm
Flowers:-
1) Appearing in advance of the leaves.
2) Corolla, whitish or pale pink, with magenta streaks at the base of each petal,
outer streaks v-shaped.
a) mouth, 9-14 mm Æ
b) lobes, oblong to eliptical, twisting, auriculate at the base,1,5-3cm
3) Pedicels, 6-16 cm brownish or purplish, fruiting pedicel coiling from the middle or
base.
4) Style, included or slightly exserted.
Fruit:-
1) With the stalk, coiling from the centre in both directions.
Habitat:- In pockets of terra rossa on open, rocky limestone slopes. 0-900(-1650)
m.
Distribution:- Endemic to west and central Crete.
Flowering time:- Sept-Nov.
Photo by:- Steve Lenton
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CYCLAMEN GRAECUM subsp. GRAECUM Back to Top
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Resembling subsp. candicum but differering in the following characters:
1) Leaves, usually broadly ovate and rather blunt, often of a paler and brighter
green.
2) Corolla, mid to deep pink.
a) mouth, 5-10 mm. Æ
Habitat:- In pockets of terra rossa on open, rocky slopes. 0-400 m.
Distribution:- Mainland Greece, Peloponnisos. On Crete currently known only from
the Rodopou peninsula.
Flowering time:- Sept- Nov.