Description

Flowers appear in spring, in the wild from March to May, pinkish purple to darker magenta, paler pink and even white forms are known, strongly sweet scented. The corolla lobes are reflexed, 20-25mm long, with pointed tips, generally 90 degrees twist, without auricles at the base. There is an Ace of Spades shaped magenta blotch at the base of each corolla lobe, with a white zone at the mouth of the corolla.

Leaves appear in late autumn, basically oval, sometimes longer than wide, often scallop edged, generally with a central dark green triangle surrounded by a paler green, grey green or silver zone, becoming darker green again toward the leaf edges, underside reddish purple, 2-8cm long, 2-9cm wide.

Tuber

Tuber a compressed sphere, medium sized when mature, up to 7cm diameter, brown, smooth, becoming rough with age, branching thin (1mm) diameter roots arise from the underside.

Distribution

Cyclamen pseudibericum grows on the Amanus and Anti-Taurus mountains at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean, in the Turkish provinces of Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kharamanmaras and Osmaniye.

Habitat

Cyclamen pseudibericum grows in moist deciduous woodland of oak, beech and hop-hornbeam, occasionally open pine forest or among shaded rocks, from 500-1650m, in an area with higher rainfall than the surrounding areas of Turkey and Syria which restricts its distribution. It grows on limestone, schist and sandstone rocks, generally on mineral soils often rich in organic matter and covered with a deep layer of moisture retentive leaf mould.

Cultivation

Cyclamen pseudibericum is hardy but tends to be cultivated as a pot plant in a cool greenhouse in northwest Europe, rather than in the garden, because it is not as widely available as C. coum and C. hederifolium. The area of distribution has a moister summer than is usual for the Mediterranean, so cultivated plants may grow better if not allowed to fully dry out during the summer. C. pseudibericum is related to C. cyprium and C. libanoticum. In cultivation, C. pseudibericum has hybridised with C. libanoticum (C. x schwarzii).