Fatran cyclamen (Cyclamen fatrense)
This small, but very conspicuous plant can currently be admired during tourist crossings in the Veľká Fatra National Park, especially in the southern parts of this mountain range.
Cyclamen is referred to as a subendemic of the Veľká Fatra Mountains. This means that a taxon that has a distribution center only in a certain area occurs somewhere else, but in a much smaller area. Fatra cyclamen is also referred to as the West Carpathian endemic. Endemic refers to a taxon that occurs only in a certain area.
The typical habitat of the species is beech forests and mixed beech forests on limestone and dolomite in the foothill and mountain stages. Much more rarely, we can find it growing in relict pines, clearings, meadows and on the edges of forests. Prefers forest soils with a high humus content. It is a perennial, 5-15 cm tall herb. In the ground there is a 1.5-5 cm large, flattened round tuber, from which a rhizome grows with petiolate leaves and fragrant flowers, which have various shades of pink to purple color. The leaves overwinter, their blade is heart-round, indistinctly serrated to entire-edged, purple on the reverse, (dark) green on the cheek, usually without spots, only sporadically with slightly pronounced whitish spots. Crown petals pinkish-purple, fused into a short tube at the base, with the tips curved back at the time of flowering.
Flowering: July – September. As a rule, the seeds ripen in the capsule only after overwintering in July-August of the following year and are spread by ants. This method of propagation is technically called myrmecochoria.
The species forms populations with tens to thousands of individuals. The size of the populations of the species, as well as their abundance in Slovakia, are more or less stabilized. The species occurs in 4 ÚEVs – Areas of Community Importance, where 81.25% of its localities in Slovakia are located.
Interesting fact: Species of the genus Cyclamen were among the oldest medicinal plants in ancient medicine. However, it should be remembered that this is a legally protected plant in our country and transplanting from the wild or any damage to it is punishable. In addition, nowadays you can get a large selection of all sorts of other, at least equally beautiful species and cultivars of cyclamen in stores.
Text and photos: Ing. Juraj Žiak
