Distribution & Habitat

Cyclamen trochopteranthum grows in a limited area in south-west Anatolia, Turkey, to the west and inland from Antalya, where it grows in Pinus brutia or Juniperus excelsa forest, or under Cedrus libani or Liquidamber orientalis, amongst tree roots or rocks, at altitudes from 350-1500m (1,150 - 4,920 ft).

Like C. mirabile, C. trochopteranthum has a confused history, having been identified in the last part of the 19th Century and described as Cyclamen alpinum. In the first few years of the 20th Century, the few plants in cultivation were lost and it was not until 1956 that it appeared again, when collected by Davis & Polunin (under PD 25579). It remained known as C. alpinum until described in 1975 as Cyclamen trochopteranthum by Otto Schwarz. The epithet 'alpinum' had been applied to various species, including both cilicium (intaminatum) and coum, and this confusion was resolved by the introduction of 'trochopteranthum'. There remains some discussion over the fact that there appear to be two variants of C. trochopteranthum, possibly corresponding to high and low altitude forms. In 1997, the Cyclamen Society sent a research expedition to study the species in the wild, with the aim of resolving this. A second and a third expedition continued the work in 1998 and 1999.