Cyclamen coum, Caucasian cyclamen

Cyclamen coum is known to some as the "island cyclamen of Cos". However, this small flowering plant of the Primulaceae family has nothing to do with the Greek island. It's native to Eastern Europe, and grows wild from Bulgaria to Turkey.

Cyclamen coum is a flowering perennial. It grows to a height of ten centimetres and adopts an upright habit. It multiplies rapidly and is generally used as ground cover.

Cyclamen are plants with a corm, an underground reserve organ that functions like a bulb or tuber.

The round or kidney-shaped leaves grow in a rosette. Their dark-green upper surface is plain or decorated with silver patterns. The blade has a purplish underside. Cyclamen coum leaves are deciduous and disappear in summer. If you want a cyclamen that stays green all year round, opt for cyclamen purpurascens.

The first flowers appear at the end of December. Flowering lasts until mid-April. The round flowers measure barely two centimetres. They appear at the top of a reddish stalk. With their five upright tepals inclined backwards, they resemble helices. Color depends on cultivar and hybrid. But whether white, pink or violet, all have a magenta spot at the base.

Cyclamen coum is toxic to humans and animals. The plant, particularly the tuberous root, contains cyclamine, a substance that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory problems and muscular paralysis.