Purple Cyclamen
Cyclamen purpurascens
Primrose family (Primulaceae)
Least concern
The lovable little ‘violet’ from the Alps
Also known as Cyclamen europaeum this species occurs in the calcareous mountain forests of central and southern Europe and is a graceful miniature of the houseplant Cyclamen persicum (florist’s cyclamen).
The violet-scented flowers appear in late summer with nodding flower heads and crimson sepals and petals that are folded back on themselves and point, triumphantly, upwards.
The purple cyclamen (or alpine violet in Dutch) has no real stem, the leaf and flower stalks arise directly from the tuber. It is the disc-shaped tuber that gives the cyclamen both its generic name - cyclos meaning circle - and its Dutch common names such as schijfkruid (disk spice), aardkogel (earth ball) and bosaardappel (forest potato).
Greeks and Romans were familiar with the medicinal properties of the tuber.
Themes
Crown jewel in the Alkmaar Botanic Garden.
The bright rose-pink flowers are very fragrant.
In the past, the tuberous rootstock of this species was used for medicinal purposes. It can still be found in several natural and homeopathic medicines.
Details
| Description: | Bulbous or tuberous plant, up to 10 cm, with dark green, rounded leaves with a silver patterning on the upper surface. |
|---|---|
| Distributions: | Central and eastern europe |
| Habitat: | Temperate forest. |
| Year cycle: | Perennial (trees and shrubs included) |
| Hardiness: | 5 - 14 f (hardy - cold winter) |
| Flowering period: | Juli |
| Flower color: | Pink |
| Notes on flowers: | Flowers appear before, or with, the leaves and have 5 upswept petals. |
| Fruit color: | Orange, yellow |
| Notes on fruits: | Seeds, amber coloured when ripe, are held in a capsule that ripens the summer a year after flowering and opens by 5-10 flaps. |
| At its best: | Juli |