3394 



TULIPA 



TULIPA 



some whites but no yellows. This Darwin race is rela- 

 tively recent, having been given its present name (in 

 compliment to Charles Darwin) little more than twenty- 

 five years ago. Broken rectified Darwins in several color 

 combinations are known as Rembrandt tulips. 



There are many other classes or subclasses, and 

 races of intermediate season, that need not be men- 

 tioned here. 



Vari-colored garden tulips are classified by F. D. 

 Horner (England) into six main sections or classes, 

 and the self-colored or "breeder" strains into three 

 classes, as follows: "(1) Flamed Bizarres. These have 

 a yellow ground flamed with red, very dark, almost 

 black, and chestnut-brown. (2) Feathered Bizarres. 

 These have similar colors, but the yellow grounds are 

 marked or penciled on the margin, whereas the flamed 

 flowers have a heavy 'beam' of color in the center of 

 the petals. (3) Flamed Bybloemens. These have a 

 white ground marked with lilac, purple, and very deep 

 black-purple color. (4) Feathered Bybloems. Similar 

 in color, but with feathered instead of flamed petals. 

 (5) Flamed Roses. These are flamed with rose and 

 scarlet colors on the pure white ground. (6) Feathered 

 Roses. These have a white ground, and are flamed 

 with rose and scarlet colors. There are three more 

 classes of what are termed 'breeders.' Bizarres. 

 Yellow selfs. Bybloemens. Lilac and light to deepest 

 purple selfs. Roses. Rose and scarlet selfs. They are 

 termed 'breeders' because in the course of a few years 

 these self-colored flowers become flamed or feathered, 

 and pass out of the breeder state." 



The common garden tulips, in their many forms, 

 are probably all developments of the Gesneriana 

 group, comprising T. Gesneriana, T. suaveolens, and 

 the like. Many of the forms sometimes catalogued as 

 "botanical tulips" are also very ornamental and are 

 always interesting in a collection. A number of spe- 

 cies may be had in the 

 trade. They should be bet- 

 ter known. 



Tulip history (Stubenrauch) . 



The tulip has an unusual 

 and interesting history, on 

 which we may pause briefly. 



The origin of the gar- 

 den tulip seems to be lost 

 beyond recovery. It is 

 often said that it is derived 

 from Tulipa Gesneriana, 

 but this does not explain. It 

 merely means that in 1753 

 Linnaeus grouped all the 

 garden tulips he knew under 

 the name of Tulipa Gesneri- 

 ana. But the tulips of that 

 day had been cultivated 

 for two centuries by Euro- 

 peans, and previously for 

 an indefinite period by 

 the Turks, from whom, of 

 course, we have no exact 

 records. (Fig. 3866.) One 



3865. Acute-petaled style of 

 tulip. (X 1 A) 



3864. The common contemporaneous garden tulip. 



might study wild tulips in their native places and com- 

 pare them with descriptions without being certain of the 

 original form which the Turks brought from the wild, 

 simply because of the lack of records at the beginning. It 

 is necessary to have some scientific name for the garden 

 tulips. The most one dare say is that the garden tulips 

 are chiefly referable to T. Gesneriana and T. suaveolens, 

 with the distinct understanding that these names do 

 not represent an original wild stock. Tulipa suaveolens 

 requires explanation. This name, which dates from 

 1797, stands for a kind of tulip discovered wild in 

 southern Europe long before that date. There is no 

 proof that it was native; the probability is that it had 

 escaped from gardens and run wild. In 1799, it was dis- 

 tinguished from the other tulips then known by the 

 fragrance of the flowers, the earliness of bloom, slightly 

 greater size and pubescent scape. From the early 

 records it appears that there were fragrant early- 

 blooming flowers among the first tulips received from 

 Turkey. This is one of the main reasons for thinking 

 that T. suaveolens is not native to southern Europe. 

 At all events, it is clear that T. suaveolens has played 

 an important part in the evolution of the garden 

 tulip, the Due van Thol class being credited to this 

 source. The distinctions between T. suaveolens and T. 

 Gesneriana given in the sequel are those of Baker, but 

 they do not hold at the present day. It is impossible 

 to refer any given variety with satisfaction to either 

 type. Some writers have said that the leaves of T. 

 suaveolens are shorter and broader than those of T. 

 Gesneriana. This character also fails. All grades of 

 pubescence are present. Some pubescent plants have 

 long leaves and odorless flowers. Others have short 

 glabrous leaves and fragrant flowers. 



For practical purposes it may be said that most of 

 the common garden tulips, at least the late-flowering 

 ones, are T. Gesneriana, while many of the early-flower- 

 ing kinds, e.g., the Due van Thol class, are supposed 

 to be derived from T. suaveolens. It is impossible to 

 press much nearer the truth, as the prototypes of the 

 old garden favorites cannot be known completely 

 and precisely. 



The first tulip seeds planted by Europeans were 

 sent or brought to Vienna in 1554 by Busbequius, the 



