Cyclamen persicum Mill. - Primulaceae - florist's cyclamen, Persian cyclamen, Zimmer-Alpenveilchen, Persisches Alpenveilchen

Deciduous perennial, up to 15cm high, native to West Asia (Turkey to Jordan); tuber 4-15cm in diam.; leaves heart-shaped, green with lighter marbling on the upper surface; flowers white to pink to magenta.

„Cultivars of this species are the commonly seen florist's cyclamen… Flowers bloom from winter to spring (var. persicum) or in autumn (var. autumnale) and have 5 small sepals and 5 upswept petals, usually white to pale pink with a band of deep pink to magenta at the base. After pollination, the flower stem curls downwards slightly as the pod develops, but does not coil as in other cyclamens. Plants go dormant in summer.“ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclamen_persicum

„Much of the modern varieties are F1 hybrids with heterosis effect, which can not be further propagated by seed… Some varieties, especially the large-flowered ones, lost their typical scent during breeding history.“ https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmer-Alpenveilchen

The flowers of cultivated diploid (2n=48) or tetraploid (2n=96) C.persicum had a woody or powdery fragrance. The headspace of diploid specimen contained mainly β-caryophyllene (22.4%), α-terpineol (6.3%), 2-undecanone (5.5%), humulene (4.0%), and β-elemene (2.4%). The headspace of tetraploid specimen contained mainly α-farnesene (39.4%), 2-undecanone (16.9%), β-caryophyllene (7.8%), and β-elemene (4.2%).
[Volatile compounds in the flowers of Cyclamen persicum, C. purpurascens and their hybrids., Ishizaka, H., Yamada, H., Sasaki, K., Scientia horticulturae, 94(1), 2002, 125-135]

The flowers of Cyclamen persicum had a rose-like floral note with nerol (29.3%), geraniol (29.2%), and (E)-2,3-dihydrofarnesol (2.2%). Minor components were geranial (3.5%), neral (2.5%), citronellol (4.5%), α-terpineol (1.3%), and (E,E)-farnesol (1.8%) e.g.
[Shibusawa, Naoe, Isao Nohara, and Ryo Ohsawa. „Interspecific variation of scent characteristics in the Cyclamen genus and the utility of the variation.“ Horticultural Science 45.4 (2018): 193-204] https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/111_2017-HORTSCI.pdf

Step, E., Bois, D., Favourite flowers of garden and greenhouse, vol.3 t.176 (1896-1897)
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=303023

Zimmer-Alpenveilchen wikimedia commons , Author: Darkone, CC-BY 2.0