Tulipa gesneriana

Species of plant

Tulipa gesneriana

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Plantae
Clade:  | Tracheophytes
Clade:  | Angiosperms
Clade:  | Monocots
Order:  | Liliales
Family:  | Liliaceae
Subfamily:  | Lilioideae
Tribe:  | Lilieae
Genus:  | Tulipa
Subgenus:  | Tulipa subg. Tulipa
Species:  |

T. gesneriana

Binomial name
Tulipa gesneriana

Synonyms[1]

Synonymy

* Tulipa coronaria Salisb.
* Tulipa hortensis Gaertn.
* Tulipa stricta Stokes
* Tulipa pubescens Willd.
* Tulipa cornuta Redouté
* Tulipa laciniata Fisch. ex Bellerm.
* Tulipa campsopetala Delaun. ex Loisel.
* Tulipa stenopetala Delaun. ex Loisel.
* Tulipa bonarotiana Reboul
* Tulipa strangulata Reboul
* Tulipa media C.Agardh ex Schult. & Schult.f.
* Tulipa repens Fisch. ex Sweet
* Tulipa bicolor Raf.
* Tulipa scabriscapa Fox-Strangw.
* Tulipa unguiculata Raf.
* Tulipa neglecta (Reboul) Reboul
* Tulipa serotina Reboul
* Tulipa variopicta Reboul
* Tulipa spathulata Bertol.
* Tulipa didieri Jord.
* Tulipa fransoniana Parl.
* Tulipa platystigma Jord.
* Tulipa billietiana Jord.
* Tulipa mauritiana Jord.
* Tulipa planifolia Jord.
* Tulipa mauriana Jord. & Fourr.
* Tulipa acutiflora DC. ex Baker
* Tulipa elegans Baker
* Tulipa fulgens Baker
* Tulipa retroflexa Baker
* Tulipa mauriannensis Didier
* Tulipa macrospeila Baker
* Tulipa connivens Levier
* Tulipa etrusca Levier
* Tulipa lurida Levier
* Tulipa passeriniana Levier
* Tulipa sommieri Levier.
* Tulipa baldaccii Mattei
* Tulipa marjolletii E.P.Perrier & Songeon
* Tulipa segusiana E.P.Perrier & Songeon
* Tulipa saracenica E.P.Perrier
* Tulipa perrieri Marj. ex P.Fourn.
* Tulipa grengiolensis Thommen
* Tulipa montisandrei J.Prudhomme
* Tulipa rubidusa Lieser
* Tulipa sedunii Lieser
* Tulipa norvegica Lieser

Tulipa gesneriana, the Didier's tulip[2] or garden tulip, is a species of plant in the lily family, cultivated as an ornamental in many countries because of its large, showy flowers. This tall, late-blooming species has a single blooming flower and linear or broadly lanceolate leaves. This is a complex hybridized neo-species, and can also be called Tulipa × gesneriana.[3] Most of the cultivars of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana. It has become naturalised in parts of central and southern Europe[4] and scattered locations in North America.[5]

Illustration and excerpt of Tulipa gesneriana.

## Description

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### Vegetative characteristics

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Tulipa gesneriana is a bulbous[6] herb[7] with ovate-lanceolate leaves.[8] The bulb produces offsets laterally.[9]

### Generative characteristics

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The erect, broadly campanulate flowers[9] with glabrous, obtuse tepals[10] have six stamens and three carpels.[9]

## Taxonomy

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It was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[8][11] It is the type species of its genus.[12]

## Etymology

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The specific epithet gesneriana honours the Swiss botanist Conrad Gesner.[13][14]

## Ecology

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The flowers are pollinated by Halictus bees.[15]

BSD SEM of Pollen Captured off Tulip Petal.

## History

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This hybrid is widely believed to have originated in Tian Shan of Central Asia, from the collections of the sultan of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul, as is the case with other species of tulips that came into Europe.[1] In 1574, Sultan Selim II ordered the Kadi of A‘azāz in Syria to send him 50,000 tulip bulbs. However, Harvey points out several problems with this source, and there is also the possibility that tulips and hyacinth (sümbüll), originally Indian spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi) have been confused.[16] Sultan Selim also imported 300,000 bulbs of Kefe Lale (also known as Cafe-Lale, from the medieval name Kaffa, probably Tulipa sauveolens, syn. Tulipa schrenkii) from the port of Kefe in Crimea, for his gardens in the Topkapı Sarayı in Istanbul. They are hybridized with other species present in the collections.[17] Tulipa sauveolens is genetically very closely related to Tulipa gesneriana, and sometimes classified in the same species.

Tulipa gesneriana was introduced to western Europe from Constantinople in 1554. It was first described in 1559 by Conrad Gesner.[18]

Tulip stereoscope image demonstrating anther, filament, and petal. Pollen visible in background.

When the tulip originally arrived in Europe from the Ottoman Empire, its popularity soared and it quickly became a status symbol for the newly wealthy merchants of the Dutch Golden Age. As a mosaic virus began to infect bulbs, producing rare and spectacular effects in the bloom but weakening and destroying the already limited number of bulbs, a speculative frenzy now known as tulip mania was triggered between 1634 and 1637. Bulbs were exchanged for land, livestock, and houses, and the Dutch created futures markets where contracts to buy bulbs at the end of the season were bought and sold.[19] A single bulb, the Semper Augustus, fetched 6,000 florins in Haarlem — at that time, a florin could purchase a bushel of wheat.

## Use

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### Food

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The flower and bulb can cause dermatitis through the allergen, tuliposide A, even though the bulbs may be consumed with little ill effect. The bulbs may be dried and pulverised and added to cereals or flour.[citation needed]

### Horticulture

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The sweet-scented bisexual flowers appear during April and May. Bulbs are extremely resistant to frost and can tolerate temperatures well below freezing — a period of low temperature is necessary to induce proper growth and flowering, triggered by an increase in sensitivity to the phytohormone auxin.[20]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
2. ^ NRCS. "Tulipa gesneriana". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 12 December 2015.
3. ^ Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Rafaël Govaerts, John C. David, Tony Hall, Katherine Borland, Penelope S. Roberts, Anne Tuomisto, Sven Buerki, Mark W. Chase, Michael F. Fay, Tiptoe through the tulips – cultural history, molecular phylogenetics and classification of Tulipa (Liliaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 172, 2013, 312
4. ^ "Tulipa gesneriana [Tulipano di von Gesner] - Flora Italiana". luirig.altervista.org. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
5. ^ "Tulipa gesneriana". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
6. ^ Tulipa gesneriana L. (n.d.). Plants of the World Online. Retrieved January 13, 2025, from https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:542923-1
7. ^ Tulipa gesneriana Linnaeus. (n.d.). Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN). Retrieved January 13, 2025, from https://data.canadensys.net/vascan/taxon/28720
8. ^ a b Linné, Carl von, & Salvius, Lars. (1753). Caroli Linnaei ... Species plantarum :exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... (Vol. 1, p. 306). Impensis Laurentii Salvii. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358325
9. ^ a b c The Botanical Register : consisting of coloured figures of exotic plants, cultivated in British gardens; with their history and mode of treatment (Vol. 5). (1819)
10. ^ Müller, F., Ritz, C. M., Wesche, K., & Welk, E. (2021). Rothmaler - Exkursionsflora von Deutschland. Gefäßpflanzen: Grundband. p. 153. Springer Spektrum.
11. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-aa). Tulipa gesneriana L. Tropicos. Retrieved January 13, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/18400363
12. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden. (n.d.-aa). Tulipa L. Tropicos. Retrieved January 13, 2025, from https://www.tropicos.org/name/40020559
13. ^ Grout, J. (n.d.). Conrad Gesner. Encyclopaedia Romana. Retrieved January 13, 2025, from http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/aconite/gesner.html
14. ^ Step, E. (1896). Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse. p. 607. Vereinigtes Königreich: F. Warne & Company.
15. ^ E. Loew. (1892). Blüthenbiologische Beiträge II. Jahrbücher Für Wissenschaftliche Botanik, 23, 207–253.
16. ^ Harvey, John H. (1976). "Turkey as a Source of Garden Plants". Garden History. 4 (3): 24. doi:10.2307/1586521. JSTOR 1586521.
17. ^ Pavord, Anna (1999). The Tulip. London: Bloomsbury. p. 41. ISBN 9781582340135.
18. ^ Rev. John Marius Wilson (Editor) The Rural Cyclopedia: Or A General Dictionary of Agriculture, and of the Arts, Sciences, Instruments and Practise, necessary to the farmer, stockfarmer, gardener, forester, landsteward, farrier, &c. Volume 4, (1857), p. 498, at Google Books
19. ^ Goldgar, Anne, Tulipmania: Money, Honor, and Knowledge in the Dutch Golden Age, University of Chicago Press, p. 322.
20. ^ Rietveld, Patrick L.; Wilkinson, Claire; Franssen, Hanneke M.; Balk, Peter A.; van der Plas, Linus H.W.; Weisbeek, Peter J.; de Boer, A. Douwe, "Low temperature sensing in tulip (Tulipa gesneriana L.) is mediated through an increased response to auxin", Journal of Experimental Botany, v.51, no. 344, March, 2000, p. 587-594.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tulipa gesneriana.

Taxon identifiers

Tulipa gesneriana|

* Wikidata: Q163060
* Wikispecies: Tulipa gesneriana
* APA: 4490
* BioLib: 42043
* BOLD: 754478
* CoL: 59KYV
* EoL: 1082877
* EPPO: TULGE
* FNA: 200027987
* GBIF: 5299675
* GRIN: 40734
* iNaturalist: 129054
* IPNI: 542923-1
* IRMNG: 10194801
* ISC: 117689
* ITIS: 43105
* NatureServe: 2.159063
* NBN: NBNSYS0000004986
* NCBI: 13306
* Open Tree of Life: 878707
* Plant List: kew-289575
* PLANTS: TUGE
* POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:542923-1
* Tropicos: 18400363
* VASCAN: 28720
* WFO: wfo-0000743525