Tulipa turkestanica

Turkestan tulip
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Tulipa
Species: T. turkestanica
Binomial name
Tulipa turkestanica
(Regel) Regel
Synonyms[1]
  • Tulipa sylvestris var. turkestanica Regel
Outside of the flower

Tulipa turkestanica (Turkestan tulip) is a species of tulip native to central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang).[1][2][3][4][5] It was first described by Eduard August von Regel in 1873 as a variety of T. sylvestris, then elevated to full species status two years later.[6][7]

Description

Tulipa turkestanica is a herbaceous, bulbous perennial growing 10 cm to 15 cm tall, with 2–4 thin glaucous leaves up to 15 cm long on each stem. The margins and tips have a pinkish colour. The leathery bulb is bright reddish-brown and has a hairy tunic. Each plant produces between one and twelve[8] star-shaped flowers. The flowers are ivory white to pinkish red, with a yellow to orange basal blotch, which extends to about a third of the flower. The backs of the outer tepals are greyish red with a whitish fringe and much wider than the inner tepals, which have a thin, green line on the middle of their outside. The filaments are orange, and the anthers are dark violet or yellow with a violet tip,[9] which distinguishes it from T. biflora that has very similar flowers but yellow anthers. It is also slightly smaller and flowers slightly earlier. The flowers only open in direct sunlight. The smell is often described as unpleasant.[10] In the wild, it flowers between March and May, depending on the altitude.

Bulb of Tulipa turkestanica

Distribution

The Turkestan tulip is found in the Pamir Alai and Tien Shan; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkestan, Iran and Dzungaria in Northwest China.[11] It grows on stony slopes, river margins and rocky ledges between 1800–2500 m asl.[12]

Cultivation and uses

Tulipa turkestanica is an ornamental plant often grown in rock gardens.[13] It needs full sun. In England, it flowers in the middle of March.[14] As other tulips of the Eriostemenes group, Tulipa turkestanica cannot be crossed with garden tulips.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Merkodovich, N.A. (ed.) (1941). Flora Uzbekistana 1: 1-566. Izd-va Akademii nauk Uzbekskoi SSR, Tashkent.
  3. ↑ Nikitina, E.V. & al (eds.) (1951). Flora Kirgizskoi SSR 3: 1-148. Frunze : Izd-vo KirgizFAN SSSR.
  4. ↑ Ovczinnikov, P.N. (ed.) (1963). Flora Tadzhikskoi SSR 2: 1-454. Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR, Moskva.
  5. ↑ Czerepanov, S.K. (1995). Vascular Plants of Russia and Adjacent States (The Former USSR): 1-516. Cambridge University Press.
  6. ↑ Richard Wilford, Tulips, Species and hybrids for the gardener (Portland, Timber Press 2006), 162
  7. ↑ Regel, Eduard August von 1875. Trudy Imperatorskago S.-Peterburgskago Botaniceskago Sada. Acta Horti Petropolitani 3(2):296
  8. ↑ 1-7 according to Anna Pavord, The Tulip, London, Bloomsbury 1999, 339
  9. ↑ Richard Wilford, Tulips, Species and hybrids for the gardener (Portland, Timber Press 2006), 163
  10. ↑ "horrible", Anna Pavord, The Tulip, London, Bloomsbury 1999, 341
  11. ↑ Pacific Bulb Society
  12. ↑ Anna Pavord, The Tulip, London, Bloomsbury 1999, 341
  13. ↑ BBC Gardening
  14. ↑ Richard Wilford, Tulips, Species and hybrids for the gardener (Portland, Timber Press 2006), 164
  15. ↑ Anna Pavord, The Tulip, London, Bloomsbury 1999, 273
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