[pbs] Cyclamen graecum photos
Jane McGary
janemcgary at earthlink.net
Sun Dec 3 14:02:01 EST 2006
I have added a few photos of Cyclamen graecum in the wild to the wiki. See
the entry for this species
<http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Cyclamen_graecum_JMW3.jpg>http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki<http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/Cyclamen_graecum_JMW3.jpg>/Photos
and Information/Cyclamen
to access the pictures. One shows what must be a very large tuber blooming
in an area that was burned earlier this year. The "terra rossa" soil was
completely bare of brush and other organic material, so obviously it was a
very hot fire; the trees had mostly survived, though, and many bulbs and
herb seedlings were emerging in response to the fall rains. Californians
will be familiar with such scenes. Cyclamen graecum is particularly well
adapted to fire because its tubers tend to grow deeper in the soil than
those of other cyclamens, and a long "floral trunk" develops on top of the
tuber, from which the flowers emerge. This species also grows in more open,
sunny areas than, e.g., C. hederifolium, C. cilicium, and C. creticum. I
saw many C. graecum growing in pockets of humus in holes in limestone
formations, sometimes in close association with crocuses and sternbergias.
I've been experimenting growing C. graecum outdoors for a couple of years
in Oregon, and I think John Lonsdale also is trying it in Pennsylvania. So
far, so good -- mine has survived 17 degrees F without snow cover, in a
very well drained site.
Another of the photos shows one of the myriad unusual leaf forms to be seen
in the Mani populations: a curled or "cochleate" (shell-like) form like
some ornamental begonia leaves. I'd like to grow hundreds of these
cyclamens for the foliage alone. It has a wonderful velvety appearance in
the deep green parts, and the white is rather silvery. The patters are
amazingly varied, and these southern Greek forms can have very large leaves
and flowers; I believe some authorities think they may be polyploid. The C.
graecum I saw in southwestern Turkey were much smaller, and the flowers had
thinner substance and were pale pink.
Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA
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