TULIPA. 37 



are quite distinct, sessile (sitting) on the ovary, there being 

 no style. 



The Name is from a Persian word signifying a turban, 

 whose gay colors it resembles. In Latin it becomes Tulipa. 

 The Common Tulip, here figured, is T. Gesneriana, being 

 dedicated to Gesner, a Swiss botanist, who saw it blooming 

 in a garden in Augsburg and first made it public in 1559.* 



Varieties. This flower indulges in many freaks and 

 fancies as to the cut and color of her robes. Now they are 

 single, now double, and now semidouble. Here they are 

 yellow, there white, and even crimson, purple or carmine. 

 Again they are mixed striped, spotted or flecked in endless 

 combinations of colors. These are merely varieties of the 

 same species, induced by their treatment in cultivation. 

 Names are given them by the florists, rarely by botanists, 

 such as Bizarres, Due Van Thol, Bubloones, Comte de Pom- 

 padour, Parrotts, &c.f 



The Record. With these few hints to guide, let the 

 student now complete the analysis of the Tulip and write its 

 record in the annexed tablet. 



Scientific Terms. Clasping. Obtuse. Ovate. Scaly bulb. 

 Sessile. Tunicated. Varieties. 



* The taste for cultivating the Tulip spread into the Netherlands, and about 1634 

 increased to such an extent that all classes began to speculate in the bulbs. Houses 

 and lands were sold to be invested in flowers. Ordinary business was neglected. 

 Sudden fortunes were made. Nobles, mechanics and chimney-sweeps alike nocked 

 to the tulip-market. Prices increased until a single bulb (the Semper Augustus) sold 

 as high as $6,000 of our present money. A story is told of an English botanist who, 

 traveling in Holland, happened to see a tulip-root in a conservatory. Ignorant of 

 its value he began to peel off its coats to examine its peculiar structure. While im- 

 mersed in his botanical study, the owner suddenly rushed in and in an agony of rage 

 shouted "It's an Admiral Van der Eyck ! " In vain the traveler protested his scien- 

 tific intentions. He was dragged before a magistrate, where, to his consternation, he 

 learned that the innocent-looking bulb was worth 4000 florins and that he was to be 

 held in confinement until he found securities for that sum At last this tulip rage 

 ran its course. Prices suddenly fell. The rich of yesterday became the poor of to- 

 day. A commercial crisis ensued. Holland did not recover from the " Tulip mania M 

 for many years. The love for this flower still exists in that country. We import our 

 best bulbs from Holland, and the wealthy Dutchman boasts of his fine tulips as a rich 

 Englishman does of his horses or paintings. 



t For the Order of Tulip and Erythronium, see LXVH. 



