Friday, January 4, 2008
Species Tulips
Species Tulips are different from the hybridized garden tulips, seen in gardens world wide, in that they are less widely grown—and known—than the garden hybrids, and are unlikely to ever outsell or even approach their level of popularity. However, more and more species are becoming available each year.
Species tulips are frequently listed under the heading ‘botanical tulips’, which makes them sound dull or specialized, and probably difficult to grow. Tulip species are not difficult to grow and they are certainly not dull.
You do not have to buy species tulips new every year to guarantee flowers. Plant the bulbs in the right place and they will re-bloom year after year with colorful flowers, and, in time, may even increase by themselves to form sizeable colonies.
Tulip species are the starting point in the long story of the garden tulip and they are still out there, growing in the wild—in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. They are usually smaller and less bold than the garden hybrids, and extra care may be needed to grow some of them successfully, but they amaze with the intensity of their color and surprise with the size of their flowers. Growing in distant mountain ranges, hidden gorges, and remote meadows are plants that wouldn’t look out of place in the brightest, most flamboyant garden.
Species tulips are frequently listed under the heading ‘botanical tulips’, which makes them sound dull or specialized, and probably difficult to grow. Tulip species are not difficult to grow and they are certainly not dull.
You do not have to buy species tulips new every year to guarantee flowers. Plant the bulbs in the right place and they will re-bloom year after year with colorful flowers, and, in time, may even increase by themselves to form sizeable colonies.
Tulip species are the starting point in the long story of the garden tulip and they are still out there, growing in the wild—in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. They are usually smaller and less bold than the garden hybrids, and extra care may be needed to grow some of them successfully, but they amaze with the intensity of their color and surprise with the size of their flowers. Growing in distant mountain ranges, hidden gorges, and remote meadows are plants that wouldn’t look out of place in the brightest, most flamboyant garden.
Origin of the Name
Although tulips are associated with Holland, both the flower and its name originated in the Persian Empire. The tulip is actually not a Dutch flower as many people tend to believe. The tulip, or "Laleh" as it's called in Persian, is a flower indigenous to Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and other parts of Central Asia. A Dutch ambassador in Turkey in the 16th century, who was also a great floral enthusiast, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, got their very names because of their Persian origins. Tulips were brought to Europe in the 16th century; the word tulip, which earlier in English appeared in such forms as tulipa or tulipant, came to us by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend, "muslin, gauze." (The English word turban, first recorded in English in the 16th century, can also be traced to Ottoman Turkish tülbend.) The Turkish word for gauze, with which turbans can be wrapped, seems to have been used for the flower because a fully opened tulip was thought to resemble a turban.
General Stuff
Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. Its region includes southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the east to northeast of China. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan.
They are perennial bulbous plants growing to 10–70 centimetres (4–27 in) tall, with a small number of strap-shaped, waxy-textured, usually glaucous green leaves and large flowers with six petals. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous flat disc-shaped seeds.
They are perennial bulbous plants growing to 10–70 centimetres (4–27 in) tall, with a small number of strap-shaped, waxy-textured, usually glaucous green leaves and large flowers with six petals. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous flat disc-shaped seeds.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Tulipa
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Tulipa
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