Cyclamen seed tutorial

[Regelian]

Paul,

you plant is quite different from any that I grow.  The pattern is lovely, but those little crennelations on the leaves are really cool.  I've not seen them so nicely rounded, almost like drops.  All of my hererafolium have pretty smooth edges in comparison.

[Regelian]

I agree with the BD... Diane's tutorial is fab ...I've given it its own thread!

Manno!  My thread got hi-jacked!

I bet you are pleased you started something so useful to others, eh? !! Excellent!! 

Maggi, are you kidding, I' exstatic!  I guess I asked the right question for a change. .  This forum is simply amazing.

[ranunculus]

Super report, Diane ... many thanks.

[partisangardener]

Paul just the first example of my cyclamen. It is an offspring of a plant I found in Italy Lago di Bolsena.
I found the plants on a buildingsite (former forrest) at the lake itself. There is now only fields and houses.
Caterpillars had just shoven the humus about.
This was some twenty years ago. Its flowering just like its mother on one of the following pictures; light pink.

[partisangardener]

the first seedlings of these plants http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2893.0;attach=182293;image from this year look like this

[Lesley Cox]

I find that the MARKINGS come pretty much true from seed but the SHAPE of the leaves, doesn't. I've several times asked for narrow or arrow-leaved forms of hederifolium from the seed exchanges but never once had a seedling reflecting the name. Eventually I was able to buy some very narrow forms locally. Of course these too were raised from seed so perhaps a proportion do come true or perhaps the ones I had from the exchanges were not as stated in the seedlist anyway.

[Michael J Campbell]

perhaps the ones I had from the exchanges were not as stated in the seedlist anyway.

   

[Lesley Cox]

Yes Michael, shock, horror indeed. How could such a thing possibly happen?

[partisangardener]

Could be that they have to be separated, to stay true to form. I did so. So the next ones will show. And as far I understand, the first leaf to appear (by seedlings) is different from the following.

[Paul T]

Very true.  In fact, with some species it takes a couple of years for markings to appear.  My original seedlings of rohlfsianum were all green the first year, one had markings the second year, and the third year they all had markings.  As the got bigger the markings increased in intricacy.  Cyclamen coum 'Maurice Dryden' here at least have all green the first year, then the second year the silver appears.  You can never really judge from the first year.  The same can apply to flowers, I've had some flower with much better proportions the second year, where the first year the flowers were quite insipid.  That goes for a lot of other things than just Cyclamen, too.

[partisangardener]

Dear Lesley
The criminalistic way to find out about this unbelievable behavior. Just cross them back  (controlled!!)
If no seedling resembles the approximately parents, your suspicion is proved


_Maybe

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Axel. I think many seeds find themselves with incorrect names. I hope it is accidental rather than with criminal intent.

[Paul T]

Lesley,

I am thinking that criminalistic in this case meant "sneaky". 

[bibliofloris]

I've been checking the seed capsules on my cyclamen this month, and realized that one visual clue I look for wasn't mentioned in this excellent thread yet.

On my C. hederifolium and C. coum, the seed capsule stems start to uncurl from their tight coils and stretch out a bit farther from the tuber before the capsules soften. You can see that the ones in the bottom right are starting to uncurl here:



And here's a different plant, whose coils have relaxed even further:



These plants' capsules haven't softened yet, but I'll be checking the second one regularly now.

Hope it helps someone who's just starting to collect their cyclamen seeds!

I'm curious: have others noticed this in other cyclamen species? Or not?