* / [ 548 ]
c Y C L AM E N europaeum.
Spring Cyclamen or Sow-bread.
P E N T A N D R IA Monogynia,
G en. Char. Cor. wheel-fhaped, reflexed ; tube very
fhort; orifice prominent. Berry fuperior, en-
clofed in a cafe.
Spec. C har, Corolla bent backwards. Leaves heart-
fhaped, angular, finely toothed.
S y n . Cyclamen europasum. Linn. Sp. PI. 207. With.
235. Sym. Syn. 53.
C. vernum. Ger.'em. 843.
I L D fpecimens of the Cyclamen have beenfentus by
D. E. Davy, Efq. from a bank in the parifh of Bramfield,
Suffolk, far from any houfe or garden, where if not originally a
native, it is at leaft perfectly naturalized. The ground is a
wet clay foil, doping towards the fouth or weft, and is over-
fhadowed with trees. Gerarde was told that this plant had
been obferved in Wales, Lincolnfhire and Somerfetfhire; but
no one has confirmed that report. It is perennial, flowering in
April, and in a cultivated ftate fometimes in autumn.
Root a large roundifli knob, throwing out feveral branched
fibres. Leaves all radical, on long foot-ftalks, heart-fhaped,
roundifli or oblong, acute, waved, and angular, finely cfenate
or toothed, veiny, fmooth; ftained above with white radiated
or finuated fpots; purplifh beneath. Foot-ftalks round,
zig-zag, flender at the bafe. Flower-ftalks like them, but
longer, Ample, naked. Flowers drooping, white, purplifh about
the mouth, their fegments upright, twifted. Stamina very
fhort, not projecting. Anther® awl-fhaped, tawny. Germen
fuperior, roundifli. Style awl-fhaped. Stigma acute. After
impregnation the ftalks curl in a clofe fpiral manner, and bury
the ripening fruit in the earth.
This pretty plant is eafily cultivated in a fhady border, and
its leaves, which are in their greateft beauty in autumn, are
fcarcely lefs ornamental than the flowers. The root is very
purgative, and has a naufeous bitter acrid tafte, not at firft
perceived, but very durable. Gerarde believed that merely
ftepping over this herb caufed abortion, and very prudently
guarded it in his garden with flicks,