Tulipa

Tulipa is a genus in the Liliaceae family from Europe, western Asia to central Asia and North Africa. A book written in 2006 by Richard Wilford is a good source of information. There are about 100 species and thousands of cultivars and confusion about names as many species have been called by different species names over the years. In 2013 an article Tiptoe through the tulips describes history and uses molecular phylogenetics to assist in classification. Although very popular, tulips are not always easy to grow. Gardeners in warm climates find they do not have the cold temperatures required to initiate bloom and except for the first year after purchasing may only see leaves. To continue to have blooming plants, bulbs must be lifted and refrigerated for 4 to 6 weeks before planting in late fall.

Tulips are also prone to disease. Tulip fire (Botrytis tulipae) can cause eventual loss of the bulbs as it is retained in the soil and withered skins of the bulbs. Tulips are also prone to virus. There are photos and information about the different viruses that plague this genus on our wiki Virus page. A few of the same photos below by Janos Agoston show examples of this:

Dwarf tulips was the topic of the week for the PBS list in February 2004. Mark McDonough supplied the Introduction.

Information and pictures of a specific species can be found by looking on the wiki Tulipa species pages or by clicking on the specific link in the table below. The hybrid page describes the divisions/groups and shows examples. Photos of named cultivars can be found on that page.

Tulipa species
Tulipa acuminata	Tulipa agenensis	Tulipa altaica	Tulipa armena	Tulipa aucheriana*
Tulipa bakeri*	Tulipa batalinii*	Tulipa biflora	Tulipa bifloriformis	Tulipa clusiana
Tulipa cretica	Tulipa cypria	Tulipa dasystemon	Tulipa dasystemonoides*	Tulipa edulis*
Tulipa eichleri*	Tulipa ferganica	Tulipa fosteriana2	Tulipa greigii	Tulipa heteropetala
Tulipa heterophylla	Tulipa hissarica	Tulipa humilis	Tulipa karabachensis*	Tulipa kaufmanniana
Tulipa lemmersii	Tulipa linifolia	Tulipa montana	Tulipa neustruevae*	Tulipa orithyioides
Tulipa orphanidea	Tulipa polychroma*	Tulipa praestans	Tulipa pulchella*	Tulipa regelii
Tulipa saxatilis	Tulipa schrenkii*	Tulipa sprengeri	Tulipa stapfii*	Tulipa suaveolens
Tulipa sylvestris	Tulipa systola*	Tulipa tarda	Tulipa turkestanica	Tulipa uniflora
Tulipa undulatifolia	Tulipa urumiensis	Tulipa vvedenskyi	Tulipa whittallii*