LADY TULIP
GUEST AUTHOR: YIGIT BERKAY GUNDOGMUS
Although the first thing comes to the mind is the Netherlands and Turkey when tulips are mentioned, most tulip species are native to Near East and Central Asia. With around 75 species, tulips are one of the most popular cultivated plants due to their various coloured flowers. Hence, there are thousands of hybrid and cultivars around the world.
It is guessed that the cultivation of tulips began in Iran and introduced to Asia Minor with Seljuks. In the Ottoman Empire, they were very popular and became a symbol of the country where sultans gifted tulips to their guests. This is also how tulips made their way to the Netherlands. It is believed that Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, ambassador of the Austrian Habsburgs for Emperor Ferdinand I had sent tulip bulbs to Europe after his arrival to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) in 1954.
Tulipa clusiana is native to regions shown in green and cultivated in the regions shown in purple on the map, more detailed information about the map and the species can be found on Plants of the World Online database by Kew Royal Botanical Gardens.
Tulipa clusiana, as known as the lady tulip, is found across a region from to North Iraq to West Himalaya. Among many cultivars, the one we have here in the gallery is Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’ which has narrow and pointy flowers with white inner side and pink outer side with white borders, in the shape of a star. Similar to some other plants we have here on the terrace, Tulipa ‘Lady Jane’ has also received the RHS’s Award of Garden Merit.
Similar to other plants here on the terrace, we also have many tulips in our Herbarium collection, some of which are exact same species you could see on the terrace.
Two examples of lady tulips we have in the Manchester Museum Herbarium collection.
References and further reading:
Nature Manchester 