Tulipa

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Tulipa (tulip; family Liliaceae) A genus of bulbous herbs with large, erect, usually solitary, terminal flowers of cup or bell shape, with 6 similar perianth segments, and without nectaries. The stigma is 3-lobed. There are some 100 species, in Europe, northern Africa, and central Asia. Many species and garden hybrids are cultivated for their fine flowers of varied colours. The garden tulip (T. gesneriana) was introduced to Europe from Turkey in the sixteenth century. There was a craze in the seventeenth century, reaching a peak between 1630 and 1640, particularly in the Netherlands, for breeding and growing new forms.

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