Tulipa clusiana was mentioned in a recent post. The name is potentially very confusing. When I began growing bulbs over fifty years ago (GRUMPY OLD M AN STORY ALERT) the name Tulipa clusiana meant something rather different than it does today. Back then the name referred to a small red and white pentaploid tulip which had probably been in cultivation for several centuries; it might truly have been known to and grown by Clusius. This tulip, which for horticultural purposes I still think of as simply Tulipa clusiana, the original Tulipa clusiana, is evidently an ancient clone. It spreads freely by stolons and is in several respects distinctive. In our climate, the foliage emerges sometimes in late autumn and goes through the winter as a four or five inch spidery rosette of gray-green leaves with a thin red margin; this rosette is flat on the ground until the arrival of clement weather. The small flowers are white with a red exterior blotch; on the inside the bases of the tepals have a blue-purple blotch. This plant still persists in old gardens, but it has not been available commercially for a long time. By the end of the twentieth century the botanical concept of Tulipa clusiana had changed: several species which in the past had been considered to be distinct species were subsumed under Tulipa clusiana. For instance, as a teenager I grew a tulip then called Tulipa stellata chrysantha; this is now a member of the Tulipa clusiana complex, and is available commerecially as Tulipa clusiana chrysantha. It has yellow flowers with a red blotch and is vigorously stoloniferous. I’ve heard that because so many of the plants of this Tulipa clusiana compels (in the modern sense) are stoloniferous, in the wild they often form relatively uniform clonal aggregations. I don’t know why, but the original Tulipa clusiana began to disappear from commerce long ago – maybe as much as forty years ago. In its place are marketed several look-alikes. ‘Cynthia’, ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Peppermint Stick’ are three I know about – perhaps there are others. ‘Cynthia’ is pale cream, almost white, with a red blotch. ‘Lady Jane’ and ‘Peppermint Stick’ are bright white with a red blotch and are a bit taller than ‘Cynthia’. ‘Lady Jane’ is in bloom today and is a fine substitute for the original Tulipa clusiana. It’s a big bigger both in flower and height and has good garden impact. In my experience, it has been hard to get these varieties true to name. I grow what I believe to be the old original Tulipa clusiana. It came from a local garden where it has formed a broad mass; the only care it requires is an occasional removal of taller plants which might shade it out. As I grow it, it is smaller than the modern clusiana look-alikes. There are dealers who claim to be selling the “real thing” but so far I have resisted that temptation. I recently had an email from someone who had received on of the modern look-alikes from one such dealer, so caveat emptor indeed. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/