Part II. CYCLAMEN. 183 



of it in the Kew and Oxford Herbariums marked " ex Iberia." 

 Leaves very various. Flowers : corolla rather longer than in 

 count; mouth constricted, not toothed ; colour various, from 

 deep red-purple to rose, lilac, and white, with intensely dark 

 mouth ; produced more abundantly than by conm. 



CYCLAMEN EURGPiEIJM.— ^KW^gaw C. 



Tuber of medium size and very irregular form, sometimes 

 roundish or depressed and knotted, at other times elongated. 

 The rind is thin, smooth, yellowish, sometimes " scabby." The 

 underground stem or rhizome is often of considerable length and 

 size, sometimes even more than a foot in length; The leaves 

 and flowers originate from stalks or branches, which emerge 

 from all parts of the tuber. The root fibrils spring from the 

 lower surface of the tuber as freely as from the upper, but are 

 never so numerous as in C. hedercefolium; and there are usually 

 two or three stems springing from different parts, and growing 

 in different directions, from which the leaves and flowers arise. 

 When these stems are much elongated and irregular, the plant 

 becomes the C. radice-anemone, or C. anemonoides of some old 

 authors. The leaves in this, as well as in most of the other 

 species, vary much in outline as well as extent of the markings 

 on the upper surface and colour beneath. Those from the more 

 northern habitats are coarser and more decidedly dentate than 

 those from some localities south of the Alps, where they assume 

 in a measure the finer texture, rounder form, and more delicate 

 maifkings, of C. persicum. The leaves appear before and with 

 the flowers, and remain during the greater part of the year. 

 Flowers from June to November, or, with slight protection, until 

 the end of the year. The petals rather short, stiff, and of a 

 reddish-purple colour, The base or mouth of the corolla pen^ 

 tagonal, not dentate. Some of the southern varieties, by atten- 

 tion to cultivation under glass, may even assume a perpetual 

 flowering character. The varieties Clusii, littorale, and Peake- 

 anum are of this section. In these varieties the flowers become 

 much longer, of a more delicate colour, often approaching peach 

 colour, and are almost the size of those of C. persicum. Pure 

 white are rare, but pale ones are not uncommon. They are 

 very fragrant. Thrives freely in various parts of the country in 

 light loamy well-drained soil, as a choice border and rockwork 



