Tulip

Tulip
Tulip: Tulipa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Lilliopsida Order: Liliales Family: Liliaceae Genus: Tulipa
Species
T. linifolia T. praestans T. saxatilis

Tulips are plants of the genus Tulipa, in the lily family, Liliaceae. They are bulbous plants, grown for the very showy large flowers. There are around a hundred species, originating from the region from Turkey to the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains in Asia. Numerous forms have been bred for garden use.

The tulip is the national flower of Turkey, and tulip motifs feature prominently in Turkish folk arts. The first European cultivation of the tulip as a garden flower occurred in the Netherlands, when the Habsburg ambassador to the Sublime Porte sent some bulbs to Vienna, and the botanist there shared them with his correspondent Carolus Clusius, keeper of the botanical garden at Leiden in the 16th century. In the following century, the early enthusiasm for the new flowers triggered a speculative frenzy now known as the tulipomania. The Netherlands and tulips are still associated with one another. The term 'Dutch tulips' is often used for the cultivated forms. Tulip Festivals are held in the Netherlands and in North America every May.

Tulips cannot be grown in the open in tropical climates, as they require a cold winter season to grow successfully.

Some cultivated tulips have a striped or variegated flower, as in the illustration. This is primarily due to a viral infection of the bulb, so such striped varieties do not breed true from seed. The Black Tulip was the title of a historical romance by Alexandre Dumas, 1850, in which the city of Haarlem has a reward outstanding for the first grower who can produce a truly black tulip.

Random mutations often occur in the tulip bulb, creating new shades and variations in the flowers. These mutated bulbs used to be extremely valuable, as they could be used to establish a new line of tulips with a new and interesting colour.

cultivars : Tulipa batalinii 'Bronze Charm'