Re: that cyclamen
Trevor Nottle wrote:
>
> Dear Colette
>
> >From your brief description I thoink your mystery cyclamen may be
> Cyclamen repandum peloponessiacum. There are several collected forms
> with varying degrees of silver spotting, blotching, streaking on the
> leaves.
Hi Trevor`
Myself I doubt Colett's mystery Cyclamen can be C.repandum
peloponnesicum. I grant you the leaves of this subsp. are not so angular
as the type and might I guess be considered similar to the "smooth
margined round leaves of C. couum". On the other hand, in the colour
illustration of this plant in Christopher Grey-Wilson's book the petal
bases are quite a dark pink while Collette states clearly that her
flower has white petal bases.
The best match I can find in that book is C barlericum (a repandum
relative) which has distinctly rounded leaves with strong silvering. The
flowers are white, but the petals can have translucent pink veins, which
I suppose would tend to make them look generally pinkish, but white at
the base. The only snag is that the flower is quite tiny. C creticum is
another close cousin and this has larger and more graceful flowers which
are normally white, but may sometimes be flushed with pink. However, the
leaves do not look to me to be quite such a good match to the
description.
Nothing else seems remotely suitable as they either have angled leaves
or flowers with dark "noses" (even distinct auricles) or they flower at
the wrong time.
I see C creticum is described as being rather tender, which might
account for the vendor's concern about where it would be planted.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
