Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants, traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae, but in recent years reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae (Kallersjo et al. 2000). Cyclamen are native to the Mediterranean region from Spain east to Iran, and also in Northeast Africa in areas such as Somalia.Each leaf or flower grows on its own stem, which shoots up from the hypocotyl. The variegation is thought by some botanists to be a form of natural disruptive camouflage to reduce grazing damage by animals.The hypocotyl grows leaves and flowers on stems, either one flower or one leaf per stem. The stem for leaves and flowers appears identical except in height. The leaves grow on stems of around 6 cm - 9 cm height.The leaves grow on stems up to 8 cm tall and form a tightly bunched circular disk of leaves. Leaves are rounded to triangular, 2-10 cm long and 2-7 cm broad, and usually variegated with a pale silvery horseshoe-shaped mark round the middle of the leaf.The top of the leaf is split with the split extending to the connection with the stem. A common cultivar available in western shops has a leaves with a (slightly stretched) heart shape.The various cultivars produce flowers with either four or five united petals growing from the edge of the flower bud. The petals are usually reflexed back 90° to 180° to be erect above the flower bud, and vary from white through pink to red-purple, most commonly pale pink.The fruit is a five-chambered capsule 1-2 cm diameter, containing numerous sticky seeds about 2 mm diameter. Natural seed dispersal is byants, which eat the sticky covering and then discard the seeds. Cyclamens are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Gothic.Cyclamen typically grow in dry forest or scrub, where they are at least partly shaded from intense sunlight. The species vary greatly in winter frost tolerance, with the hardiest species (C. hederifolium) tolerating temperatures down to -15°C (5 °F), or -30°C (-22 °F) if covered by snow. Others, such as C. somalense from northeastern Somalia, do not tolerate any frost at all. Certain climate change models suggest many species could become extinct in their current range within the next 50 years (Yesson & Culham 2006).The cyclamen is also the national flower of Israel.