White-flowered Cyclamen Coum - Eastern sowbread

A variety of Cyclamen Coum, or Cyclamen from the island of Cos, which is characterised by a pure white winter flowering on small, dark green foliage. Hardy in most European regions, easy to grow, this small cyclamen thrives in partial shade or shade under trees, along pathways, in shaded rockeries, where it will slowly spread to form an elegant and refined carpet. Its beautiful round foliage appears in autumn and persists until late spring. The plant goes dormant in the summer.

Cyclamen Coum is a small perennial plant with tuberous roots belonging to the Primulaceae family. It is not native to the island of Cos, Greece, but rather to the mountains of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Lebanon, corresponding to the region of Eastern Cilicia, where it is usually found in shaded areas. This small species measures about 10 cm in height.

Cyclamen Coum has produced numerous forms with varied flowers and foliage, including this lovely white variety with green foliage. Some producers have made it their specialty, notably Kwekerij Koen, who works on a small scale. Their nursery is located in Westland, the Netherlands, an area known for horticultural production. Kwekerij is passionate about hybridising botanical cyclamens: Cyclamen Coum, C. hederifolium, and C. purpurascens. They perform pollination on the parent lines with a brush, then collect the seeds, sow them, and then transplant them into pots for sale.

The tubers of Cyclamen Coum are rounded and compressed, measuring up to 6.5 cm in diameter, and are covered with a smooth and velvety "skin" and equipped with roots originating from their centre and base. The foliage generally develops in autumn, after a dry summer. In cool and humid climates, it may sometimes only appear at the same time as the flowers, in January-February. The leaves, rounded with smooth edges, measure 4 to 5 cm in diameter. In the variety presented here, they are a solid dark green, sometimes slightly marbled with a slightly lighter green. Their undersides are coloured purple-pink. As soon as the soil dries out a bit, in June, the foliage disappears and the plant goes into dormancy. This variety is resistant to our normal winters, but a layer of dead leaves will be beneficial in case of prolonged frost.

The flowering of the white Cyclamen Coum with green foliage takes place between early February and mid-March, depending on the climate. The pointed flower buds, initially lying on the ground, stand upright on reddish peduncles. Each flower, quite stout, measuring 1 to 2 cm in length, is composed of 5 rounded white petals that curve backward. After pollination, the flower gives way to a small round fruit, with the floral stem spiraling to allow the fruit to come into contact with the ground. Ants, which delight in their sweet flesh, disperse the seeds.

Plant Cyclamen Coum by mixing the varieties, in a carpet-like arrangement. They will multiply on their own over the years, creating unforgettable scenes in the somewhat shaded and dry areas of the garden, which are difficult to design. The cyclamen is a perfect plant for enhancing the base of a deciduous tree in an understory soil, with white hellebores, for example. It is resistant to cold, but its tuber fears excessive moisture, both in winter and summer, and does not tolerate complete drying out in summer. It will find its place in a partially shaded rockery, not too dry, in the company of blue shades anemones and hepaticas, for example. To have two flowering periods, plant Cyclamen cilicicum and Cyclamen 'de Naples', which flower in autumn.