Tulips - Some Basic Tulip Botany
Tulips are among the most popular flowers. Considering how beautiful they are and how easy to grow, that should be no surprise. But that growth and beauty can be optimized by a little basic knowledge of the botany of this ancient flower.
The scientific name of 'tulipa' for the genus, assigned by the famous biologist Linnaeus, should be of interest to more than scientists. For it places the genus in the lily family, which provides clues about how to help this hardy plant along.
Interestingly, though, there are relatively few wild species - about 100-150, according to several sources. Most originated in the Central or Western Asian regions around present-day Turkey, Kazakhstan and others. The vast majority of cultivars, ranging from 1,700 to over 3,000 depending on the expert consulted are the result of hundreds of years of hybridization and artificial cultivation.
The winters in that part of the world are cold, followed by short rainy springs and hot,dry summers. The tulip evolved to thrive in those conditions. One way that it, and others, accomplished that task was to create bulbs that have a multi-layered onion-like 'skin'. That skin, which is reddish-brown, dry, and papery is called a 'tunic'.
The bulbs are not mere corms or tuberous roots like those that produce crocuses and dahlias, but true bulbs. The compressed stem and leaves surround buds that develop inside the bulb. That bulb also has a component called a basal plate from which the roots develop and spread.
Bulbs are composed of a compressed stem with fleshy, modified leaves that form that 'onion skin'. The layers help the bulb retain moisture and food over the hot, dry summer. That is especially important since the soil in regions in which tulips evolved tends to be rocky or sandy, and hence doesn't retain much moisture nor is very rich in nutrients.
Bulbs are never fully dormant, even in winter. Planted in October, they will produce a dense root system that is well developed by December. At the same time, the bulb is producing a shoot that is just below the surface well before the beginning of spring.
Then, once the warmer weather arrives, that shoot experiences a substantial growth phase and will rocket up within two-four weeks to reach heights as high as 30 inches. Tulip growth and timing varies by category, with Early Single types blossoming the soonest and reaching the highest peak. By early to mid-April all but the Late Season cultivars will have produced blooms. Flowers of the Double Lates may take as long as late May to arrive.
Those flowers typically come in the form of three inner perianths alternating with three outer perianths. Perianths are the portion that most people associate with the word 'flower', the actual petal. But technically, in botany, the whole assembly is the flower.
Most blooms will be between 3-4 inches tall and the same to slightly wider if they're the type to open fully. Not all tulips are the traditional small liquor-glass shape seen in so many photographs. Many cultivars open wide like daisies.
At the base are six filaments with anthers attached at the top. Here reside the multi-colored pollen grains, the plant's equivalent of sperm. Anthers, part of the stamen, are the 'male' section of a flower. In the center, at the top of the stem, is the pistil, containing the ovary, which is the female part of the flower.
In the case of the tulip, unlike some other genuses, flowers contain fully operative male and female parts. Botanists call this a 'perfect' flower. But then, tulip lovers knew that already.
