T clusiana
John Grimshaw (Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:22:01 PST)

I think that the important point in the discussion of Tulipa clusiana is
that the plant that has been known in horticulture by this name for four
centuries is a sterile clone that spreads by stolons, presumably the
pentaploid mentioned by Ben Zonneveld. It is naturalised in the
Mediterranean. To my mind it seems certain that this was an old Ottoman
selection that has been spread around because of its vigour and ease of
propagation. It is sad that within the past few years it has lapsed from
commercial cultivation in Holland: a stock I had last year that was
proclaimed to be the 'real thing' was a substitute of very similar
appearance, but larger in the flower, a slightly different shade and also
fertile. All horticultural references to T. clusiana prior to recent years
refer to this single clone.

The wild populations - formerly known as T. stellata and T. chrysantha - are
from much further east and are normally variable, reproducing by seed. They
have given rise to several cultivars available in the trade.

John Grimshaw

Dr John M. Grimshaw
Sycamore Cottage
Colesbourne
Nr Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL53 9NP

Tel. 01242 870567

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----- Original Message -----
From: "B.J.M. Zonneveld" <B.J.M.Zonneveld@biology.leidenuniv.nl>
To: <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 10:32 AM
Subject: [pbs] T clusiana