T U L 



T U L 



It is observed that '^ modern florists in Hol- 

 land and Flanders, and our English florists from 

 them, boast a prodigious variety of late-blowing 

 Tulips." And that ""Mr. IVIaddock of Walworth, 

 in his catalogue of flowers for 1792, has no less 

 than "about C65 of these admired beauties, all 

 ranged under their proper families and eolours, 

 with their names and prices : besides the early 

 sorts, doMe tulips, parrot-tulip.-!, French tu- 

 lips, and breeders. 



It is added tiiat " the late-blowers are distri- 

 buted into five families: 1. Primo Baguels; 

 very tall ; fine cups with white bottoms, well 

 broken with fine brown, and all from the same 

 breeder: Q. Bagt/et Rigauts ; not quite so tall, 

 but with strong stems, and very large well- 

 formed cups with white bottoms, well broken 

 with fine brown, and all from the same breeder: 

 3. Incomparable Furports; a particular kind of 

 Bybloemeiis, with most perfect cups, very fine 

 white bottoms, well broken with shining brown, 

 and all from the same breeder; some of tliese 

 are from two to five guineas a root: 4. Bybloe- 

 mens; with bottoms white, or nearly so, from 

 different breeders, and broken with variety of 

 colours J those of the Verports are cherry and 

 rose: 3. Bizarres ; ground yellow, from dif- 

 ferent breeders, and broken with variety of 

 colours. — These barbarous terms, used by the 

 Dutch florists, are, it is said, a mixture of Dutch 

 and French. Baguet is from the French Ba- 

 guette, a rod or wand, so named from its tall 

 slender stem. Bizarre is also French; and the 

 Tulips of that family have the name from the 

 variety and irregularity of their colours. Rigauts 

 are probably from the name of some eminent 

 florist, Rigaud. The other terms are Dutch. — 

 Breeders are of one colour, and when broken 

 produce new varieties." 



" The properties of a fine variegated late 

 Tulip, according to the best modern florists, are," 

 he savs, " these : 1 . the stem should be strong, 

 upright, and tall, about thirty inches high : 2. 

 the flower should be large, composed of six 

 petals, proceeding a little horizontally at first, 

 and then turning upwards so as to form an al- 

 most perfect cup, with a round bottom, rather 

 wider at the top : 3. the three outer petals should 

 be rather larger than the three inner ones, and 

 broader at their base: all the petals should have 

 the ediTL-s perfectly entire ; the top of each should 

 be Ijroad and well rounded ; the ground colour 

 at the bottom of the cup should be clear white 

 or yellow ; and the various rich stripes which 

 are the principal ornament of a fine flower should 

 be regular, bold, and distinct on the margin, 

 and terminate in fine broken points, elegantly 

 feathered or pencilled: 4. the centre oTeach 



Vol. IL 



petal should contain one or more bold blotches 

 or stripes, intei'mixed with small portions of the 

 original colour, abruptly broken into niany 

 irregular obtuse points. Some tlorists," he adds, 

 "are ofopinion that the central stripesor blotches 

 do not contribute to the beauty of the Tulip, 

 unless they are confined to a narrow stripe ex- 

 actly down the centre; and that they should be 

 perfectly free from any remains of the original 

 colour: il is certain that such flowers appear 

 very beautiful and delicate, especially when they 

 have a regular narrow feathering at the edge : 

 but it is unanimously agreed, that the Tulip 

 should abound in rich colouring, distributed in 

 a distinct and regular manner throughout the 

 flower, except in the bottom of the cup, which 

 should indisputably be of a clear bright white or 

 yellow, free from stain or tinge, in order to 

 constitute a perfect flower. The Double and 

 Parrot Tulips are," says he, "in nosort of esteem 

 among the florists." 



The second species has the bulb ovate, gib- 

 bous : the stem quite simple, nearly upright, 

 round, smooth, leafy in the middle, attenuated 

 at the base : the leaves alternate, slightly cm- 

 bracing, lanceolate, acute, keeled, glaucescent : 

 the flower always yellow, greenish on the out- 

 side: the petals elliptic-lanceolate, without any 

 nectary : the filaments flatted : the anthers termi- 

 nating, versatile, oblong: thegerm three-corner- 

 ed : stigma sessile, three-cornered. A native of 

 the South of Europe, &c., flowering in April. 



" It has most of these characters in comjnon 

 with the Garden species ; but the circumstances 

 that abundantly distinguish this are; the narrow 

 leaves, tlie nodding flower, the hairiness at the 

 base of the stamens and on the tips of the petals, 

 and especially the simple obtuse form of the 

 stigma, which is totally different from that of 

 the Garden Tulip : the flower too is fraorant ; 

 the pollen yellow, not black ; and the anthers 

 remarkably long. In the Flora Danica they are 

 represented short and round." 



Culture. — All the diflerent sorts of tulips may 

 be increased by ofl^sets from the roots, and by 

 sowing seeds to produce new varieties. The 

 ofl^sets should be separated from the old roots 

 in June, on taking them up when the flowering 

 is over, planting them in nursery-beds, in rows 

 six inches apart, and to the depth of three, four, 

 or ^\ve, in the beginning of autunm. They n)ay 

 also in the old root, be planted in beds, or in the 

 borders or other parts where they are to remain 

 and blow, iir patches of four or five, placed irre- 

 gularly; and to have a succession, they may be 

 planted at different times; they are usually 

 planted with a blunt dibble: the new roots 

 should always be planted by themselves. 

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