498 Lilidite——T wiapa. 
of innumerable varieties, both single and double, and variously 
coloured. It has tall slender stems, obtuse petals very often 
striped with white or yellow upon a violet ground, or vice verstt. 
T. suavéolens, the 
Sweet or Van Thol 
Tulip, has short stout 
stems, acute petals 
searlet or gold-colour- 
ed, or the two colours 
combined. It is quite 
unknown as a_ wild 
plant, but its nearest 
allies are South Euro- 
pean. TT. Turcica, or 
the Turkish Tulip, is 
a cultivated form of 
T. Bithyirica, a native 
of Asia Minor. The 
petals of this form are 
scarlet or yellow, and 
more lanceolate, and 
especially more acu- 
minate, than in the 
two foregoing, 7. 
pubésceus (Clara- 
mond, Brides of 
Haarlem, and other 
varieties) is a hybrid 
hetween 7. Gesneria ne 
and T. sucurevlens. 
All Tulips are 
worthy of cultivation ; 
but nevertheless we 
Fig. 244. Tulipa Gesneriana, usually confine our- 
(f nat. size.) selves to those specics 
and varieties which long culture has greatly improved, and 
which are the progeny of the species above enumerated. At 
least they are attributed to those three species, thoueh we must 
remember that the primitive characters are so radically changed 
in many forms that it is exceedingly difficult to refer them to 
the one or the other ; in fact, through intercrossing, the classi- 
fication of certain varieties must remain purely arbitrary. 
