Family Primulaceae
The greenhouse cyclamen of today is descended from the species Cyclamen persicum (syn. C. latifolium) which is found growing wild in Greece, Turkey, Syria, the Aegean Isles, Crete and Cyprus. The species has attractive heart-shaped marbled leaves and fragrant flowers which are small, the petals being narrow and twisted on quite long stems. The colour range is usually white, rose pink and various shades of lilac. There are no bright reds and crimsons. The species exhibits considerable variation in its foliage. It was not until early in the nineteenth century that the cyclamen became popular as a pot plant in this country, but at this time the plants offered by nurserymen had flowers only slightly larger than the wild species.
During the first half of the nineteenth century new plants were brought into Great Britain in everincreasing numbers and nurserymen and amateur growers were constantly striving to improve the species by cross-breeding and improving the growing conditions. It is not uncommon for cultivated plants which are constantly being interbred to develop new characteristics, and in 1870 a new race of cyclamen appeared which had large flowers. There does not seem to be any evidence that this change came about as a result of a breeding programme, and it has been suggested that intense cultivation, using the most suitable composts and ideal growing conditions, may have some bearing in the matter. A change of this kind is usually due to a mutation in the cell by an increase in the number of chromosomes or a change in the gene structure. Well-known examples of this are the Russell lupin and the Spencer sweet pea, and the results are, of course, very much improved forms almost overnight, as it were. This new development naturally stimulated the breeders and by 1875 plants had been produced which could be said to be the forerunners of the modern hybrids. At first only white and crimson shades were available but later a rose pink was raised.
In 1894 the nursery firm of Suttons introduced a salmon pink shade called 'Salmon Queen' and by crossing this with purple shades the brilliant crimsons were produced, but the flowers were rather small compared with today's plants.
