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CYCLAMEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 682 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CYCLAMEN , in See also:

botany, a genus belonging to the natural See also:order See also:Primulaceae, containing about ten See also:species native in the mountains of central'See also:Europe and the Mediterranean region. C. europaeum (Sow-See also:bread) is found as an introduced plant in copses in See also:Kent and See also:Sussex. The See also:plants are See also:low-growing herbs with large tuberous rootstocks, from the See also:surface of which See also:spring a number of broad, generally See also:heart-shaped or See also:kidney-shaped, See also:long-stalked leaves, which in cultivated forms are often beautifully marbled, ribbed or splashed. The See also:flowers are nodding, and See also:white, See also:pink, See also:lilac or See also:crimson in See also:colour. The corolla has 'a See also:short See also:tube and five large reflexed lobes. After flowering the stalk becomes spirally coiled, See also:drawing the See also:fruit down to the See also:soil. Cyclamen is a favourite See also:winter and spring flowering plant. C. persicum is probably the best known. It is a small-growing See also:kind bearing See also:medium-sized leaves and numerous flowers. C. giganteum is a large, strong-growing species; not quite so See also:free flowering as C. persicum, but in all other respects See also:superior to it when well grown. C. papitio differs in the fringed See also:character of the petals. It has been obtained by selection from C. persicum.

There is also a very beautiful crested See also:

race, probably derived from C. giganteum. The plants are raised from See also:seed, and, with See also:good cultivation, See also:flower in fifteen to eighteen months from date of See also:sowing. Seed should be sown as soon as ripe, in See also:July or See also:August, in pots or pans, filled up to 2i in. of the rim with broken crocks for drainage. The soil should consist of fibrous yellow See also:loam, See also:leaf-See also:mould in flakes, and coarse See also:silver-See also:sand, in equal parts. Sow the seed thinly—4 in. to a in. apart—and See also:cover with a very thin sprinkling of the soil. Protect with a square of See also:glass covered with a piece of See also:brown See also:paper for shade, and See also:place on a shelf in a warm greenhouse. The soil should never be allowed to get dry. When the seedlings appear, remove the covering, care being taken that they do not suffer for want of shade, See also:water or a moist See also:atmosphere. As soon as the third leaf appears, repot singly into thumb-pots in slightly coarser soil, so that the crowns of the little plants are just above the level of the soil. In See also:December See also:transfer into a little richer soil, consisting of two parts fibrous loam broken into small bits by See also:hand and the See also:fine particles rejected, one See also:part flaked leaf-mould, passed through a See also:half-See also:inch See also:sieve, half a part of plant ash from the burnt refuse heap and half a part of coarse silver-sand. Keep through the winter in a moist atmosphere at a temperature not below 50° Fahr., and as near the glass as possible. In See also:March they should be ready for their next shift into 5-in. pots.

The potting compost should be the same as for the last shift, with the addition of half a part of well-sweetened manure, such as a spent See also:

mushroom See also:bed. Keep in a warm moist atmosphere and shade from strong sunlight. In See also:June remove to See also:cold frames and stand them on inverted pots well clear of one another. Slugs show a marked partiality for the succulent See also:young leaves and should be excluded by dusting See also:round the frames occasionally with newly slaked See also:lime. The inverted pots serve as traps. The frames may thus be frequently syringed without keeping the plants unduly wet. Shade heavily from See also:direct sunlight, but afford as much diffused See also:light as practicable. Ventilate on all favourable occasions, and See also:close the frames See also:early after copious syringing. By the end of the See also:month they will be ready for the final shift into 7-in. pots. Much care must be used in handling them, the leaves being large, See also:tender and numerous. The soil is as for the last potting. The frames should be kept close and heavily shaded for a few days after potting; then gradually reduce shade and increase See also:ventilation.

By the end of July the elegance of the foliage alone should well repay the care bestowed on them. From this See also:

time onwards very little shading will be needed, the See also:object of the See also:cultivator being to harden the growth already made. With the See also:advent of cool See also:weather in See also:September, remove to flowering quarters in a warm greenhouse. Flowering will begin in See also:November and will continue through the winter and spring. The damping off of the flower-buds may occasionally prove troublesome during winter. This may generally be traced to checks, such as sudden changes in temperature, too low a temperature, careless watering, &c. During spring plants that are flowering freely will require weak manure water about twice a See also:week. Plants selected to See also:bear seed should be set aside for that purpose, and as soon as the capsules are found to be developing properly they should be reduced to six or seven per plant, and all flower-buds picked off as soon as they are large enough to handle. The See also:production of strong seeds is of the utmost importance. Plants grown for See also:market purposes, either for decoration or for seed, are sown later than the above, are kept cooler, and during summer receive more ventilation and less shade. This results in the production of plants with much smaller and more erect leaves, which travel well. They are flowered in spring and early summer.

The species grown for this purpose is C. persicum. A few species are See also:

hardy in dry sheltered positions, such as rockeries, under walls and old trees, provided the positions are well drained. Such are C. europaeum, with reddish-See also:purple flowers in summer; C. hederifolium in autumn; and C. neapolitanum, with large leaves marbled with silver and rosy-pink flowers.

End of Article: CYCLAMEN

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