Cyclamen are a genus of twenty species within the family Primulaceae, which inhabit a range from eastern and southern France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, diverse parts of North Africa including parts of Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, Northern Somalia, and many Mediterranean islands including the Baleariacs, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Sicily, Cyprus, and the Greek islands of the Ioannian Sea, Saronic Islands, Sporades, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Crete and the Dodecanese.
The following classification makes use of Chris Grey-Wilson (1997) [which includes infraspecific classification of C. graecum by Ietswaart (1990)], with the additions of C. repandumssp. repandum var. baborense Debussche & Quézel (1997), and C. graecum ssp. mindleri (Heldr.) A.P. Davis & Govaerts.
A Key to the Genus follows below.
Prior to Grey-Wilson (1997), Cyclamen were classified & keyed out into 19 species, according to Grey-Wilson (1988).
To display more details of the various species and sub-species,
including illustrations, click on names in the Species column below, or in the
menu panel.
Details of books, papers, articles and other references cited
in the species pages will be found on the Bibliography Page.
| Subgenus | Series | Species | Sub-species | Variety | Forma |
| Psilanthum | . | balearicum | . | . | . |
| . | . | creticum | .. | . | creticum |
| . | . | creticum | . | . | pallide-roseum |
| . | . | repandum | repandum | . | repandum |
| . | . | repandum | repandum | . | album |
| . | . | repandum | repandum | baborense | . |
| . | . | repandum | peloponnesiacum | peloponnesiacum | . |
| . | . | repandum | peloponnesiacum | vividum | . |
| .. | . | repandum | rhodense | . | . |
| Gyropheobe | One | coum | coum | . | coum |
| . | . | coum | coum | . | albissimum |
| . | . | coum | coum | . | pallidum |
| . | . | coum | caucasicum | . | . |
| . | . | coum | elegans | . | . |
| . | . | parviflorum | . | parviflorum | . |
| . | . | parviflorum | . | subalpinum | . |
| . | . | trochopteranthum | . | . | . |
| . | . | trochopteranthum | . | . | leucanthum |
| Gyropheobe | Two | cilicium | . | . | cilicium |
| . | . | cilicium | . | . | album |
| . | . | intaminatum | . | . | . |
| . | . | mirabile | . | . | mirabile |
| . | . | mirabile | . | . | niveum |
| Gyropheobe | Three | cyprium | . | . | . |
| . | . | libanoticum | . | . | . |
| . | . | pseudibericum | . | . | pseudibericum |
| . | . | pseudibericum | . | . | roseum |
| Persicum | . | persicum | . | persicum | persicum |
| . | . | persicum | . | persicum | albidum |
| . | . | persicum | . | persicum | roseum |
| . | . | persicum | . | persicum | puniceum |
| . | . | persicum | . | autumnale | . |
| . | . | somalense | . | . | . |
| Cyclamen | One | africanum | . | . | . |
| . | . | hederifolium | . | hederifolium | hederifolium |
| . | . | hederifolium | . | hederifolium | albiflorum |
| . | . | hederifolium | . | confusum | . |
| . | . | colchicum | . | . | . |
| . | . | purpurascens | . | . | purpurascens |
| . | . | purpurascens | . | . | album |
| Cyclamen | Two | graecum | graecum | . | . |
| . | . | graecum | graecum | . | album |
| . | . | graecum | mindleri | . | . |
| . | . | graecum | anatolicum | . | . |
| Cyclamen | Three | rohlfsianum | . | . | . |
| 1 | Stamens exserted from the mouth of the corolla; leaf lamina with even, broad, triangular lobes | C. rohlfsianum |
| . | Stamens included within the corolla tube; leaf lamina not as above | 2 |
| 2 | Corolla auriculate towards the base where the corolla lobes reflex; flowering in the summer, autumn and early winter | 3 |
| . | Corolla not auriculate; flowering mostly in the late winter, spring and summer | 8 |
| 3 | Fruiting pedicels coiling in two directions from near the centre, or from near the base upwards; tuber with thick anchor roots | C. graecum |
| . | Fruiting pedicels coiling from the top downwards; tuber without thick anchorage roots | 4 |
| 4 | Leaves orbicular or reniform, neither lobed nor angled along the margin; corolla plain, unmarked. | 5 |
| . | Leaves usually cordate, lobed and/or angled along the margin; corolla with basal markings to each lobe (If pure white, then leaf characters apply). | 6 |
| 5 | Leaf lamina very thick and fleshy with a distinct but finely toothed, rather beaded margin and diverging basal lobes; corolla 1.1 - 1.5 cm (0.4 - 0.6 inches) long. | C. colchicum |
| . | Leaf lamina thin and generally with an indistinctly toothed, not beaded, margin and converging or overlapping basal lobes; corolla 1.7 - 2.5 cm (0.7 - 1 inch) long: | C. purpurascens |
| 6 | Corolla with an M-shaped blotch towards the base of each lobe; calyx lobes narrow-triangular, acuminate; tubers rooting from one side of the base | C. cyprium |
| . | Corolla with a V-shaped blotch at the base of each lobe (not present in albinos); calyx lobes broad-triagular, with an abrupt cuspidate apex; tubers rooting primarily from the top and sides | 7 |
| 7 | Petioles and pedicels straight, arising straight above the tuber; corolla lobes 1.8 - 3.5 cm (0.7 - 1.4 inches) long; tubers generally concave above | C. africanum |
| . | Petioles and pedicels with a distinct elbow in the lower half, arising to the side of the tuber; corolla lobes 1.4 - 2.2 cm (0.6 - 0.9 inches) long; tubers flat or somewhat convex above | C. hederifolium |
| 8 | Pedicels thickening and curving downwards in fruit but not coiling | 9 |
| . | Pedicels coiling from the top downwards as the fruits develop | 10 |
| 9 | Corolla lobes 1 - 1.5 cm (0.4 - 0.6 inches) long; margin of leaf lamina somewhat angled in the lower half | C. somalense |
| . | Corolla lobes 2 - 3.7 cm (0.8 - 1.5 inches) long; margin of leaf lamina not angled | C. persicum |
| 10 | Calyx lobes 1-veined; corolla plain, unmarked or with a coloured zone around the nose; anthers never aristate | 11 |
| . | Calyx lobes 3 - 5-veined; corolla with a dark blotch or mark at the base of each lobe or, if unmarked, then corolla glandular in part and anthers aristate | 15 |
| 11 | Leaf lamina thin, cordate, generally lobed and/or angled; tubers smooth and velvety | 12 |
| . | Leaf lamina thicker and more fleshy, unlobed and unangled; tubers corky | 14 |
| 12 | Corolla pink to deep magenta overall, or white or pale pink with a deeper pink zone around the nose; leaf lamina with a deep bright green base colour | C. repandum |
| . | Corolla plain, white or very pale pink leaf lamina generally with a grey-green base colour | 13 |
| 13 | Leaf lamina with an acute apex, the margin flat; corolla lobes 1.5 - 2.6 cm (0.6 - 1 inch) long | C. creticum |
| . | Leaf lamina with an obtuse apex, the margin usually somewhat revolute; corolla lobes 0.9 - 1.6 cm (0.4 - 0.6 inches) long | C. balearicum |
| 14 | Leaf lamina very thick and fleshy with a distinct but finely toothed, rather beaded margin and diverging basal lobes; corolla 1.1 - 1.5 cm (0.4 - 0.6 inches) long | C. colchicum |
| . | Leaf lamina thin and generally with an indistinctly toothed, not beaded margin and converging or overlapping basal lobes; lobes 1.7 - 2.5 cm (0.7 - 1 inch) long | C. purpurascens |
| 15 | Flowers appearing in the late summer and autumn; anthers always aristate | 16 |
| . | Flowers appearing in the winter or spring; anthers aristate or not | 18 |
| 16 | Corolla lobes distinctly toothed towards the apex; leaf lamina often flushed with pink or red above when young | C. mirabile |
| . | Corolla lobes indistinctly toothed to entire; leaf lamina rarely flushed with pink or red above | 17 |
| 17 | Leaf lamina longer than wide, usually toothed; corolla lobes with a distinctive dark blotch towards the base, 1.4 - 1.9 cm (0.6 - 0.7 inches) long (if pure white, then leaf characters apply). | C. cilicium |
| . | Leaf lamina as wide as long or wider, often entire; corolla lobes plain, 1 - 1.6 cm (0.4 - 0.6 inches) long | C. intaminatum |
| 18 | anthers not aristate; tubers corky, rooting from all over the base; corolla glandular, the lobes entire. | 19 |
| . | Anthers aristate; tubers velvety, rooting only from the centre of the base; corolla rarely glandular, the lobes usually somewhat toothed. | 20 |
| 19 | Mouth of corolla 1 - 1.3 cm (0.4 - 0.5 inches) in diameter; corolla pink to deep magenta; leaf lamina angled but not toothed | C. libanoticum |
| . | Mouth of corolla 0.3 - 0.6 cm (0.1 - 0.2 inches) in diameter; corolla very pale rose pink or whitish; leaf lamina toothed but not angled | C. pseudibericum |
| 20 | Blotch at base of the corolla lobes with a pair of paler 'eyes'; flowers generally unscented. | C. coum |
| . | Blotch at base of corolla lobes solid or consisting of close, more or less parallel lines; flowers sweetly scented | 21 |
| 21 | Leaf lamina marbled or variously patterned above, somewhat toothed; corolla lobes 0.9 - 1.3 cm (0.4 - 0.5 inches) long, always more or less horizontal, twisting through only 90°, the blotch solid | C. trochopteranthum |
| . | Leaf lamina plain, more or less entire; corolla lobes 0.4 - 1.1 cm (0.2 - 0.4 inches) long, often erect, twisting through 180°, the blotch consisting of close lines | C. parviflorum |