Cyclamen coum Christmas Tree White

The Cyclamen Coum, 'Christmas Tree White', is a cultivar of the Cyclamen from the island of Cos, exceptionally bright and precious in appearance. It is a form with white flowers, with small round and very light leaves adorned with a green macule shaped like a Christmas tree. This lovely plant blooms in winter, close to the ground, despite the cold. Its foliage appears in autumn, remains until the end of spring, and then disappears in summer. Plant its tubers in partial shade or shade under trees, along pathways, or in shaded rockeries, where it will slowly spread as a carpet. This variety withstands our average winters, but a layer of dead leaves will be beneficial in case of prolonged frost.

The Cyclamen Coum is a small perennial plant with tuberised 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 Cilicia region, where it is usually found in shaded areas. This small species measures about 10 cm in height.

The Cyclamen Coum has given rise to numerous forms, with varied flowers and foliage, including this lovely variety, 'Christmas Tree White'. Some producers have made it their speciality, notably Kwekerij Koen, who works on a small scale. Their nursery is located in Westland, the Netherlands, an area of ​​intensive horticultural production. Kwekerij is passionate about hybridising botanical cyclamens: Cyclamen Coum, C. hederifolium, and C. purpurascens. They pollinated parent lines with a brush, collected the seeds, sowed them, and transplanted them into pots. We are offering them exclusively today.

The tubers of the Cyclamen Coum are rounded and compressed, measuring up to 6.5 cm in diameter, and red 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 and February. The rounded leaves measure 4 to 5 cm in diameter. In the 'Christmas Tree White' variety, they are adorned with a green central macule shaped like a Christmas tree on a silvery-white background. Their undersides are coloured purple-pink. As soon as the soil dries out in June, the foliage disappears, and the plant goes into dormancy.

The Cyclamen Coum 'Christmas Tree White' flowering takes place between early February and early March, depending on the climate. Initially, on the ground, the pointed flower buds tighten at the top of reddish peduncles. Each flower, quite stout, measuring 1 to 2 cm in length, comprises five petals with rounded edges, curved backwards. After pollination, the flower gives way to a small round fruit, with the floral stem spiralling to allow the fruit to come into contact with the ground. Ants, which delight in their sweet flesh, disperse the seeds.

Plant the Cyclamen Coum 'Christmas Tree White' mixed with other varieties as a carpet. They will multiply independently over the years, creating unforgettable scenes in the garden's somewhat shaded and dry areas, which are challenging to design. The cyclamen is a perfect plant to enhance 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 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 of anemones, blanda and hepaticas, for example. To have two flowering periods, plant Cyclamen cilicicum and Cyclamen de Naples, which bloom in autumn.