Cyclamen hederifolium Aiton

I looked up photographs on www.identify.plantnet.org of some Cyclamen that I grew from seed started over three years ago, one of which has produced its first flower two weeks ago.

It is saying that both plants are Cyclamen hederifolium Aiton. The one that produced a flower has just green leaves, and the one that hasn't flowered yet has silvery patterns on its leaves, both with that Christmas tree pattern.

I am lucky that they turned out to be hederifolium, as they are supposed to be tougher regarding competition from other plants, and I had nearly given up on them surviving let alone flowering, and planted some Violets in the same big pots, which flourished more than I was expecting. I suppose next year, after the Violets have flowered and when the Cyclamen are dormant, I might need to think about moving the Cyclamen hederifolium into a less crowded space? Though the Violets do seem to be supporting the Cyclamen, whereas another Cyclamen hederifolium that I have, one bought as a plant, seems to topple over, both the leaves and flowers, without other plants to support it.

Is Aiton a subspecies or cultivar?



These other two are the silvery patterned leaves, which hasn't flowered yet, but the identify.plantnet.org says they are also Cyclamen hederifolium Aiton.

 

I am guessing that Aiton was named after a gardener at Kew gardens, William Aiton 1731-1793, or his son who was also a gardener?

 

Hi @groundbeetle Aiton appear either to be a cultivar name or even an accidental inclusion of a reference to the source document about it (this happened with an enryngium species that people misnamed). From seed, cultivars don't tend to breed true, which is why your seedlings look different. I have grown cyclamen seed labelled 'ex Tilebarn Anne' which warned me they wouldn't be identical to the parent. But they were closer to its lovely leaf colours than I expected!