Cyclamen persicum (species) in flower - subtle and fragrant

Cyclamen persicum, the species from which the big and bright florist's cyclamen cultivars have been developed, has a subtle and delicate flower.  Both the species and its cultivars are good house plants as long as you don't over-water them - Cyclamen persicum comes from places that tend to be hot and dry (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia) and it also doesn't like frost, athough The Cyclamen Society 1990 expedition to Israel found it growing in snow on the Golan Heights.

I got my first plant from the wonderful Joy Plants more than twenty years ago.  The tuber is now the size of a bread and butter plate and has scores of flowers in late winter.  I have also grown on some more plants from seeds that I have collected from the original.  There is subtle genetic variation reflected in slight flower and leaf differences in my cluster of plants.  In late winter they flower.

The upswept petals are like little propellers, the flock of flowers hovering over the leaves, filling the room with sweet perfume.