Wild plants have heart-shaped, fleshy leaves, up to 14 cm (6 in) usually green with lighter markings on the upper surface.

It arises solely through a thickening of the hypocotyl, the shoot axis area between the root neck and the first cotyledon.

Cyclamen carry on individual stems standing flowers that hang down but whose petals are bent strongly upwards.

[3] There are two natural varieties and several named forms, distinguished by flowering time and predominant petal color.

The natural range of C. persicum extends from North Africa across West Asia to Southeast Europe.

[clarification needed] It also grows in Algeria and Tunisia and on the Greek islands of Rhodes, Karpathos, and Crete,[1] where it may have been introduced by monks.

The preferred growing sites include pine forests, oak thickets and open rocky slopes mostly on calcareous soils up to an altitude of 1000 meters.

In the summer months, the high temperature and the dryness lead to the death of the aerial plant parts.

[22] The Bedouins of Mandate Palestine used to collect the root, and after grating it, would mix it with lime and sprinkle it over the surface of lakes or other large bodies of water known to contain fish.