CYCLAMEN Coum. 

 Round leaved Cyclamen. 



Class and Order. — Pentaxdria Monogynia. 

 Syn. Cyclamen Coum. Cur. Bot. Mag, pi. 4. 

 — Cyclamen Coum. Hor. Kew. 1 vol.p.Sll. 



Root bulbous, orbicular, compressed. Leaves radical, on rather long purplish 

 petioles, orbicular, cordate, upper side dark green, red underneath — 

 stem radical, three or four inches high, flower terminal, drooping — calyx 

 five segments acute — petals five, reflexed, ovate, margins undulate, dark, 

 pink, marked with red at the base, which is shaded off to a pure white, 

 stamens five enclosed in the tube of the corolla, style longer than the 

 stamens, stigma acute. 



This pretty plant which is one of the earliest of our Spring bulbs, 

 is a native of the south of Europe, and has been known since the year 

 1596, when it was cultivated by Mr. John Gerard. It is very hardy, 

 thoug-h generally treated as a green-house or fi-ame plant, and if grown 

 in a sheltered situation in a mixture of bog earth, and rich loam, it 

 will flower abundantly, and make a beautiful appearance about Fe- 

 bruary, particularly if covered with a hand-glass to protect the flowers 

 from the inclemency of the weather. 



This plant is easily raised fi'om seed, which is produced in abundance. 

 After the petals decay the germen becomes enlarged, and the foot 

 stalk enclosing it in the centre, twists in the fonn of a screw, until it 

 reaches the ground, when the seed-vessel bursts and deposits the seed, 

 a beautiful provision of nature for propagating the species — the seeds 

 thus sown, will require a little more soil, and the protection of a hand- 

 glass during the Winter, when if not destroyed by frost, the plants will 

 generally flower the following Summer — the other hardy species are 



C. hedertefolium. 



var. 



— europfieum. 

 PI. 9. 



