Tulip

Appearance

''Tulipa'' is a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, dying back after flowering to an underground storage bulb. Depending on the species, tulip plants can be between 10 and 70 cm high.

Flowers: The tulip's flowers are usually large and are actinomorphic and hermaphrodite and female characteristics), generally erect, or more rarely pendulous, and are arranged more usually as a single terminal flower, or when pluriflor as two to three , but up to four, flowers on the end of a floriferous stem , which is single arising from amongst the basal leaf rosette. In structure, the flower is generally cup or star shaped. As with other members of Liliaceae the perianth is undifferentiated and biseriate , formed from six free caducous tepals arranged into two separate whorls of three parts each. The two whorls represent three petals and three sepals, but are termed tepals because they are nearly identical. The tepals are usually petaloid , being brightly coloured, but each whorl may be different, or have different coloured blotches at their bases, forming darker colouration on the interior surface. The inner petals have a small, delicate cleft at the top, while the sturdier outer ones form uninterrupted ovals.

Androecium: The flowers have six distinct, basifixed introrse stamens arranged in two whorls of three, which vary in length and may be glabrous or hairy. The filaments are shorter than the tepals and dilated towards their base.

Gynoecium: The style is short or absent and each stigma has three distinct lobes, and the ovaries are superior, with three chambers.

Fruit: The tulip's fruit is a globose or ellipsoid capsule with a leathery covering and an ellipsoid to globe shape. Each capsule contains numerous flat, disc-shaped seeds in two rows per chamber. These light to dark brown seeds have very thin seed coats and endosperm that does not normally fill the entire seed.

Leaves: Tulip stems have few leaves. Larger species tend to have multiple leaves. Plants typically have two to six leaves, some species up to 12. The tulip's leaf is cauline , strap-shaped, with a waxy coating, and the leaves are alternate , diminishing in size the further up the stem. These fleshy blades are often bluish-green in colour.The bulbs are truncated basally and elongated towards the apex. They are covered by a protective tunic which can be glabrous or hairy inside.

Naming

The word ''tulip'', first mentioned in western Europe in or around 1554 and seemingly derived from the "Turkish Letters" of diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, first appeared in English as ''tulipa'' or ''tulipant'', entering the language by way of and its obsolete form ''tulipan'' or by way of Modern Latin ''tulipa'', from Ottoman Turkish ''tülbend'' , and may be ultimately derived from the ''delband'' , this name being applied because of a perceived resemblance of the shape of a tulip flower to that of a turban. This may have been due to a translation error in early times when it was fashionable in the Ottoman Empire to wear tulips on turbans. The translator possibly confused the flower for the turban.

Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq stated that the "Turks" used the word "tulipan" to describe the flower. Extensive speculation has tried to understand why he would state this, given that the Turkish word for tulip is "lale". It is from this speculation that "tulipan" being a translation error referring to turbans is derived. This Etymology has been challenged and makes no assumptions about possible errors. At no point does Busbecq state this was the word used in Turkey, he simply states it was used by the "Turks". On his way to Constantinople Busbecq states he travelled through Hungary and used Hungarian guides. Until recent times "Turk" was a common term when referring to Hungarians. The word "tulipan" is in fact the Hungarian word for tulip. As long as one recognizes "Turk" as a reference to Hungarians, no amount of speculation is required to reconcile the word's origin or form. Busbecq was simply repeating the word used by his "Turk/Hungarian" guides.

The Hungarian word "tulipan" may be adopted from an Indo-Aryan reference to the tulip as a symbol of resurrection, "tala" meaning bottom or underworld and "pAna" meaning defence. Prior to arriving in Europe the Hungarians, and other Finno-Ugrians, embraced the Indo-Iranian cult of the dead, Yima/Yama, and would have been familiar with all of its symbols including the tulip.

Distribution

Tulips are mainly distributed along a band corresponding to latitude 40° north, from southeast of Europe and Turkey in the west, through the Levant and the Sinai Peninsula. From there it extends eastwards through Jerevan, and Baku and on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan, Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent , to the eastern end of the range in the Pamir-Alai and Tien-Shan mountains in Central Asia, which form the centre of diversity. Further to the east, ''Tulipa'' is found in the western Himalayas, southern Siberia, Inner Mongolia, and as far as the northwest of China. While authorities have stated that no tulips west of the Balkans are native, subsequent identification of ''Tulipa sylvestris'' subsp. ''australis'' as a native of the Iberian peninsula and adjacent North Africa shows that this may be a simplification. In addition to these regions in the west tulips have been identified in Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans. In the south, Iran marks its furthest extent, while the northern limit is Ukraine. Although tulips are also throughout most of the Mediterranean and Europe, these regions do not form part of the natural distribution. Tulips were brought to Europe by travellers and merchants from Anatolia and Central Asia for cultivation, from where they escaped and naturalised . For instance, less than half of those species found in Turkey are actually native. These have been referred to as neo-tulipae.

Tulips are indigenous to mountainous areas with temperate climates, where they are a common element of steppe and winter-rain Mediterranean vegetation. They thrive in climates with long, cool springs and dry summers. Tulips are most commonly found in meadows, steppes and chaparral, but also introduced in fields, orchards, roadsides and abandoned gardens.

Habitat

Tulips are mainly distributed along a band corresponding to latitude 40° north, from southeast of Europe and Turkey in the west, through the Levant and the Sinai Peninsula. From there it extends eastwards through Jerevan, and Baku and on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan, Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent , to the eastern end of the range in the Pamir-Alai and Tien-Shan mountains in Central Asia, which form the centre of diversity. Further to the east, ''Tulipa'' is found in the western Himalayas, southern Siberia, Inner Mongolia, and as far as the northwest of China. While authorities have stated that no tulips west of the Balkans are native, subsequent identification of ''Tulipa sylvestris'' subsp. ''australis'' as a native of the Iberian peninsula and adjacent North Africa shows that this may be a simplification. In addition to these regions in the west tulips have been identified in Greece, Cyprus and the Balkans. In the south, Iran marks its furthest extent, while the northern limit is Ukraine. Although tulips are also throughout most of the Mediterranean and Europe, these regions do not form part of the natural distribution. Tulips were brought to Europe by travellers and merchants from Anatolia and Central Asia for cultivation, from where they escaped and naturalised . For instance, less than half of those species found in Turkey are actually native. These have been referred to as neo-tulipae.

Tulips are indigenous to mountainous areas with temperate climates, where they are a common element of steppe and winter-rain Mediterranean vegetation. They thrive in climates with long, cool springs and dry summers. Tulips are most commonly found in meadows, steppes and chaparral, but also introduced in fields, orchards, roadsides and abandoned gardens.''Botrytis tulipae'' is a major fungal disease affecting tulips, causing cell death and eventually the rotting of the plant. Other pathogens include anthracnose, bacterial soft rot, blight caused by ''Sclerotium rolfsii'', bulb nematodes, other rots including blue molds, black molds and mushy rot.

The fungus ''Trichoderma viride'' can infect tulips, producing dried leaf tips and reduced growth, although symptoms are usually mild and only present on bulbs growing in glasshouses.

Variegated tulips admired during the Dutch tulipomania gained their delicately feathered patterns from an infection with the tulip breaking virus, a mosaic virus that was carried by the green peach aphid, ''Myzus persicae''. While the virus produces fantastically streaked flowers, it also weakens plants and reduces the number of offsets produced. Dutch growers would go to extraordinary lengths during tulipomania to make tulips break, borrowing alchemists’ techniques and resorting to sprinkling paint powders of the desired hue or pigeon droppings onto flower roots.

Tulips affected by the mosaic virus are called "broken"; while such plants can occasionally revert to a plain or solid colouring, they will remain infected and have to be destroyed. Today the virus is almost eradicated from tulip growers' fields. The multicoloured patterns of modern varieties result from breeding; they normally have solid, un-feathered borders between the colours.

Tulip growth is also dependent on temperature conditions. Slightly germinated plants show greater growth if subjected to a period of cool dormancy, known as vernalisation. Furthermore, although flower development is induced at warmer temperatures , elongation of the flower stalk and proper flowering is dependent on an extended period of low temperature (

Uses

Tulip petals are edible flowers. The taste varies by variety and season, and is roughly similar to lettuce or other salad greens. Some people are allergic to tulips.

Tulip bulbs look similar to onions, but should not generally be considered food. The toxicity of bulbs is not well-understood, nor is there an agreed-upon method of safely preparing them for human consumption. There have been reports of illness when eaten, depending on quantity. During the Dutch famine of 1944–45, tulip bulbs were eaten out of desperation, and Dutch doctors provided recipes.

Cultural

In horticulture, tulips are divided into fifteen groups mostly based on flower morphology and plant size.
⤷ Div. 1: Single early – with cup-shaped single flowers, no larger than 8 cm across. They bloom early to mid season. Growing 15 to 45 cm tall.
⤷ Div. 2: Double early – with fully double flowers, bowl shaped to 8 cm across. Plants typically grow from 30–40 cm tall.
⤷ Div. 3: Triumph – single, cup shaped flowers up to 6 cm wide. Plants grow 35–60 cm tall and bloom mid to late season.
⤷ Div. 4: Darwin hybrid – single flowers are ovoid in shape and up to 6 cm wide. Plants grow 50–70 cm tall and bloom mid to late season. This group should not be confused with older Darwin tulips, which belong in the Single Late Group below.
⤷ Div. 5: Single late – cup or goblet-shaped flowers up to 8 cm wide, some plants produce multi-flowering stems. Plants grow 45–75 cm tall and bloom late season.
⤷ Div. 6: Lily-flowered – the flowers possess a distinct narrow 'waist' with pointed and reflexed petals. Previously included with the old Darwins, only becoming a group in their own right in 1958.
⤷ Div. 7: Fringed – cup or goblet-shaped blossoms edged with spiked or crystal-like fringes, sometimes called “tulips for touch” because of the temptation to “test” the fringes to see if they are real or made of glass. Perennials with a tendency to naturalize in woodland areas, growing 45–65 cm tall and blooming in late season.
⤷ Div. 8: Viridiflora
⤷ Div. 9: Rembrandt
⤷ Div. 10: Parrot
⤷ Div. 11: Double late – Large, heavy blooms. They range from 46 to 56 cm tall.
⤷ Div. 12: Kaufmanniana – Waterlily tulip. Medium-large creamy yellow flowers marked red on the outside and yellow at the centre. Stems 15 cm tall.
⤷ Div. 13: Fosteriana
⤷ Div. 14: Greigii – Scarlet flowers 15 cm across, on 15-centimetre stems. Foliage mottled with brown.
⤷ Div. 15: Species or Botanical – The terms "species tulips" and "botanical tulips" refer to wild species in contrast to hybridised varieties. As a group they have been described as being less ostentatious but more reliably vigorous as they age.
⤷ Div. 16: Multiflowering – not an official division, these tulips belong in the first 15 divisions but are often listed separately because they have multiple blooms per bulb.

They may also be classified by their flowering season:
⤷ Early flowering: Single Early Tulips, Double Early Tulips, Greigii Tulips, Kaufmanniana Tulips, Fosteriana Tulips,
⤷ Mid-season flowering: Darwin Hybrid Tulips, Triumph Tulips, Parrot Tulips
⤷ Late season flowering: Single Late Tulips, Double Late Tulips, Viridiflora Tulips, Lily-flowering Tulips, Fringed Tulips, Rembrandt TulipsTulip bulbs are typically planted around late summer and fall, in well-drained soils. Tulips should be planted 10 to 15 cm apart from each other. The recommended hole depth is 10 to 20 cm deep, and is measured from the top of the bulb to the surface. Therefore, larger tulip bulbs would require deeper holes. Species tulips are normally planted deeper.Tulips are called ''lale'' in Turkish . When written in Arabic letters, "lale" has the same letters as ''Allah'', which is why the flower became a holy symbol. It was also associated with the House of Osman, resulting in tulips being widely used in decorative motifs on tiles, mosques, fabrics, crockery, etc. in the Ottoman Empire. The tulip was seen as a symbol of abundance and indulgence. The era during which the Ottoman Empire was wealthiest is often called the Tulip era or ''Lale Devri'' in Turkish.

Tulips became popular garden plants in the east and west, but, whereas the tulip in Turkish culture was a symbol of paradise on earth and had almost a divine status, in the Netherlands it represented the briefness of life.

In Christianity, tulips symbolise passion, belief and love. White tulips represent forgiveness while purple tulips represent royalty, both important aspects of Easter. In Calvinism, the five points of the doctrines of grace have been summarized under the acrostic TULIP.

By contrast to other flowers such as the coneflower or lotus flower, tulips have historically been capable of genetically reinventing themselves to suit changes in aesthetic values. In his 1597 herbal, John Gerard says of the tulip that “nature seems to play more with this flower than with any other that I do know”. When in the Netherlands, beauty was defined by marbled swirls of vivid contrasting colours, the petals of tulips were able to become "feathered" and "flamed". However, in the 19th century, when the English desired tulips for carpet bedding and massing, the tulips were able to once again accommodate this by evolving into “paint-filled boxes with the brightest, fattest dabs of pure pigment”. This inherent mutability of the tulip even led the Ottoman Turks to believe that nature cherished this flower above all others.

Seventeenth-century tulip mania has been described above.

''The Black Tulip'' is an historical romance by Alexandre Dumas, père. The story takes place in the Dutch city of Haarlem, where a reward is offered to the first grower who can produce a truly black tulip.

The tulip occurs on a number of the Major Arcana cards of occultist Oswald Wirth's deck of Tarot cards, specifically the Magician, Emperor, Temperance and the Fool, described in his 1927 work ''Le Tarot, des Imagiers du Moyen Âge''.