CYCLAMEN COUM for JANUARY

Cyclamen coum
Blooming on Shaw Island 
this day of
21 January'21 

     
"Cyclamen is a genus of some seventeen species, dispersed in southern Europe and countries bordering the Mediterranean, through Turkey and southern Russia to Iran. Most occur in deciduous or light coniferous woodland or in shaded sites on rocky hillsides, with a general altitude range from 1,000 to 7,000 feet, although some grow near sea level.
      Willam Turner, the "father of English botany," had not seen Cyclamen in Britain when, in his New Herbal of 1551, he proposed the common name sowesbread, "lest it should be nameless, if ether it should be brought into England, or be found in anye place in England." According to Philip Miller, "it is call'd Sowbread, because the root is like a loaf, and the Sows eat it." Know as pain de porceau in France, it is said to have provided food for wild boars in parts of southern Europe and Turkey. Mrs. Beeton, the famous Victorian cookery writer, claimed that the pigs' diet of Cyclamen bulbs imparted special flavour to the pork products of the Perigord.
      Cyclamen were valued by apothecaries long before they were cultivated but curiously, in view of their reputed medicinal properties, Cyclamen were not known in Britain until the late 16th C. when Gerard had in his garden two of the common species cultivated today, Cyclamen hederifolium and C. coum.
      Among gardeners, particularly rock garden and alpine enthusiasts, there has been a great demand for Cyclamen species in recent years.
      Propagation by the division of the tubers, formed in Cyclamen from the swollen hypocotyl, the tissue between root and shoot, is occasionally successful. However, the species are best raised from seed which, with few exceptions, is freely produced and will germinate readily if sown fresh, as will old seed soaked in water for a day or so. The young seedlings should be encouraged to continue growing as long as possible and not dried off. Even after the leaves have died down, the tubers should be kept slightly moist to avoid shriveling. Using a gritty, free-draining, leafy compost, with an annual top dressing as they come into growth each season, they will thrive in containers for several years.
      While measures to stop the over-collecting of Cyclamen in the wild must not be relaxed, the maintenance, increase, and distribution of almost all the species from material already in cultivation represents a success story. It is vital that this conservation model should be followed for other endangered plants in the future."

Christopher Brickell and Fay Sharman.
The Vanishing Garden, A Conservation Guide to Garden Plants. London.
John Murray Publisher; in association with the Royal Horticulture Society. 1986

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There was another Cyclamen that had been growing for many years near the Shaw Island ferry landing. It was rescued from the path of a bulldozer preparing for asphalt ferry traffic lanes. Here is a post about Cyclamen hederifolium happily, still with us. Click here

Some year there will be seeds available in little packages in the seed shed.