Cyclamen coum f. coum ‘Sophie’

Large bright magenta-pink flowers, present as ‘propellers’. Plain dark green leaves. The leaves are cordate, dark green with impressed veins and dark pigment at the petiole junction. The flowers do not open as typical C. coum, remaining as a propeller shape. Prominent white eye on top of flower from petal base to calyx lobes. Dark calyx and petioles.

John Lonsdale first recognised the unique characteristics of the form in a batch of seedlings that were raised from seed that was probably received from the late Jan Bravenboer around 2016. The plants first flowered in 2018-2019. He saved seed and >50% of seedlings continue to come true to type. They can be recognised and rogued at the cotyledon stage because they are an unmarked dark green with a purplish cast, unlike, for example, C. coum ‘Meaden’s Crimson’, which has plain green leaves without the dark cast. They make robust plants which are easily recognised, and which stand out among other C. coum. The flowers are very brightly coloured and held well above the foliage over the entire plant. The eye is beautifully marked and the reverse of the flower, which is well-displayed, shows the white of the eye extending from the petal base through the dark-coloured calyx lobes. Characteristically, the flowers don’t mature to a typical C. coum shape, the petals remain horizontal and twisted in a shape more typical of C. alpinum. That is the only feature in common with C. alpinum.

The cultivar is named for Sophie, John’s Golden Retriever who was rescued after being severely abused for five years as a puppy-mill breeding dog.