CYCAS 



CYCLAMEN 



933 



shrubs. According to Nehrling, this species is of slow 

 growth. In the male plants there are usually several 

 heads. The male infl. is usually 18-20 in. long and 

 cylindrical in form. The female infl. is in the form of a 

 semi-globose head, yielding 100-200 large bright red 

 nut-like seeds, which ripen about Christmas time. The 

 new Ivs. appear 

 all at one time, 

 usually in May. 

 They have a beau- 

 tiful glaucous 

 green color and at 

 first stand erect. 

 Young plants are 

 easily grown from 

 seeds. Unfortu- 

 nately this beau- n 8 2. Leaf of Cycas 

 tiful species is, in revoluta. 



Fla., subject to 



blight for which no remedy has yet 

 been found. It appears to thrive best 

 in open situations; and in Cent. Fla., 

 it grows with little care, flowering and 

 fruiting abundantly. The nuts are 

 eaten by the natives, and from the 

 pith of the trunk a kind of sago is prepared 

 for which the common name "sago palm" is 

 given it. The leaves are much used in funeral 

 decorations. 



BB. Blade of carpophylls dentale-lobate. 



Beddomei, Dyer (C. revoluta, Bedd., not Thunb.). 

 A low shrub with sts. only a few in. high: Ivs. about 

 3 ft. long; pinna? about J/gin. wide, strongly revo- 

 lute; carpophylls 6-8 in. long, with the blade 3 in. 

 long and 1 in. broad, ovate-lanceolate, tapering 

 into a long-acuminate point, strongly dentate-lobate, 

 bearing 2 pairs of ovules above the middle: seeds glo- 

 bose, 1H in- diam.; male cone about 1 ft. long and 3 

 in. diam., very short-peduncled; antheriferous scales 

 long-acuminate, acumen in upper half of cone strongly 

 deflcxed, near the base of the cone ascending. E. 

 Madras, abundant on the hills. 



Other cultivated cycads are C. neo-caleddnica, Lind. "A very 

 ornamental palm-like plant, of a different species from the cycads 

 ordinarily grown," intro. into the U. S. by W. T. Swingle. Much 

 like C. circinalis but with fronds narrower and pinnae closer. 

 C. .Vormanbydna, Muell., intro. into the U. S. from France by W. T. 

 Swingle, a species with oblong-obpvate Ivs., having numerous linear 



Kinnae 6 in. long. Austral. C. Riuminictna, Regel. St. rather stout: 

 rs. bright green, erect, spreading in a vase-like crown, the pinnae 

 fine-pointed. Philippines. I. H. 11:405. W. E. SAFFORD 



CYCLAMEN (classical name, probably from the Greek 

 word for circle, in allusion to the spirally twisted 

 peduncles). Primulacex. Herbaceous and low plants, 

 with a flattish tuber or corm, grown sometimes in the 

 open and one of them much prized as a florist's and 

 window-garden subject. 



Flower single, on a scape, with usually 5-parted 

 calyx and corolla (the parts strongly reflexed), 5 con- 

 nivent stamens, with pointed sessile anthers, 1 style 

 and stigma, and a 5-splitting caps. : Ivs. cordate or 

 reniform, long-petioled, entire or sinuate-dentate: fls. 

 nodding or declined, purple, rose or white. About 20 

 species of the Medit. region, extending to Cent. Eu. 

 C. persicum is the source of the standard florists' 

 cyclamens. Most of the other species are essentially 

 outdoor plants. They are little known in outdoor 

 planting in N. Amer., however. The European cata- 

 logues list several species aside from C. persicum, and 

 they are here described; and others are included in 

 the supplementary list that are recently mentioned in 

 horticultural literature. Old English name sow-bread, 

 from the tubers being sought by swine. Consult Fr. 

 Hildebrand, Die Gattung Cyclamen, Jena, 1898; also 

 Pax & Knuth in Engler's Pflanzenreich, hft. 22, 1905. 



All cyclamens are very beautiful, and would be much 



more popular were they hardy in our eastern climate. 

 On the Pacific slope many of them probably would be 

 perfectly at home as outdoor plants, producing a great 

 number of flowers above the bare soil in the depth of 

 winter before the leaves are developed. It is, however, 

 with the Persian cyclamen (C. persicum), which is 

 tender, that florists have had the greatest success. 

 There is no common winter-flowering subject of as 

 much value for duration in bloom, variety of coloring, 

 or wealth of color. It is preferable at all times to begin 

 the culture of Persian cyclamen with seeds, sown in 

 the early winter months. Grow on without any check 

 for the following year. They should bloom 

 freely about fifteen months from planting. Old 

 tubers, such as are offered in fall with other 

 florists' bulbs, rarely give satisfaction as com- 

 pared with a packet of seeds. It is not the 

 nature of the plant to have all its roots dried 

 off, as if it were a hyacinth or tulip. Our sum- 

 mers are rather too warm to suit cyclamen 

 perfectly, and it will be found that the most 

 growth is made in the early autumn. It is best 

 to give the plants a little shade in the hot 

 months, such as a frame outdoors near the 

 shade of overhanging trees at midday. This 

 is better than growing them under painted 

 glass, as more light is available, together with 

 plenty of fresh air on hot days. It will be 

 found that cyclamen seeds require a long time 

 in which to germinate, often two months. 

 This is due to the fact that the seed produces 

 a bulb or corm before leaf-growth is visible. As 

 soon as two leaves are well developed, place 

 the plants around the edge of 4- or 5-inch pots 

 until every one is large enough for a 3-inch 

 pot. The roots are produced sparingly in the 

 initial stages, and too much pot-room would 

 be fatal at the start. By the middle of sum- 

 mer another shift may be given, and in Sep- 

 tember all will be ready for the pots in which 

 they are to flower, 5- or 6-inch pots, accord- 

 ing to the vigor of the plants. It will always 

 be found, however, that there will be a certain 

 percentage that will not grow, no matter how 

 < " much persuasion is used. These may be 

 thrown away, to save time and labor early in 

 the season. In the house they should have the light- 

 est bench. It is impossible to grow them in a warm, 

 shady house. About 50 at night is the ideal tem- 

 perature when in flower. The best soil is a fresh, 

 tufty loam, with a fourth or fifth of well-rotted horse- 

 manure, to which add some clean sand if the soil is 

 heavy. At all times, the pots should be well drained. 

 The Giganteum strains of the Persian cyclamen 

 produce the largest blooms, but at the expense of 

 quantity. For the average cultivator it is better 

 to try a good strain that is not gigantic. There is 

 a recent departure in the form of crested flowers. 

 Cyclamens come true to color from seeds, and one can 

 now buy named varieties that will reproduce them- 

 selves almost to a certainty. Of recent years culti- 

 vators have had much trouble with a tiny pest or mite 

 that attacks the plants and renders them useless for 

 bloom. Its work is done mostly after the plants are 

 taken into the greenhouse and when about to mature 

 into blooming specimens. If the first flowers come 

 deformed or abnormally streaked with colors that are 

 darker in shade, it is a sure indication that the pest is 

 present. Frequent light fumigation with hydrocyanic 

 acid gas as soon as the pest is discovered will in time 

 eradicate it, but being very small, and able to hide 

 under the divisions of the calyx, seldom coming out 

 except on bright days, makes the pest a difficult one 

 to fight. The gas cannot be used during sunshine. 

 Tobacco stems used freely between the pots is a good 

 preventive measure. Greenfly is likely to attack the 



