Cyclamen

In the genus Cyclamen, only C. persicum has been used as the major commercial plants. Cyclamen began to be a popular commercial plant in the nineteenth century. Although wild C. persicum plants usually flower in winter to spring, production time of commercial flowering cyclamen plants depends on the demands and weather conditions in each country. Cyclamen are usually propagated by seeds. However, most genotypes show inbreeding depression. Seed dormancy in cyclamen is not a serious problem, but temperature and light conditions affect seed germination. Cyclamen production occurs throughout the Temperate Zone and is a big market. The trends and demands for cyclamen production vary depending on the country and/or the time of year. Floral characteristics are important for the production. The petal size and shape of commercial plants vary. Today, various commercial genotypes with white, purple, scarlet or yellow petals are available. Although diploid and tetraploid cultivars are available, the world trends of commercial potted plants are toward diploid F1 cultivars. Development of the researches on cyclamen traits and breeding techniques creates a great possibility in cyclamen breeding. Some modes of inheritance of petal coloration and pigmentation have been clarified; research succeeded in ploidy breeding, and interspecific hybridization between cyclamen and other Cyclamen spp. Some in vitro propagation techniques have been established, and transgenic plants have been obtained. The breeders must plan a dependable breeding program and develop tactics for the breeding and production of new plants. Marketing research, dependable breeding objective, fundamental knowledge on breeding, and effective breeding technique are needed to establish the program and tactics.