Bulb egg-shaped, tumid on one side, brown. Stem simple, nearly 
upright, about a foot high, round, smooth, 1-flowered ; leafy about 
the middle, tapering at the base. Leaves alternate, clasping the 
stem, spear-shaped, slightly keeled, smooth, rather glaucous, taper- 
ing at each end. Flower somewhat drooping, sweet scented, bright 
yellow ; externally greenish. Filaments yellow, flatted, surrounded 
with a fringe of short white hairs at the bottom. Anthers and 
Pollen yellow. Stigma sharply triangular, blunt ; not dilated, nor 
downy, like the garden Tulip. 
Tiilipa Sylvistris is specifically distinguished from the common 
garden Tulip ( T . Gesneriana) by the acute petals, hairy at the 
point and base ; and from that and every other species, at present 
known, by the flowers being drooping before they expand. The 
bulbs send out lateral shoots, of a considerable length, forming new 
bulbs at the extremity ; this character, Mr. Ker informs us, (see 
Bot. Mag. t. 1202.) will distinguish Tiilipa sylvistris from T. cel- 
sidna and T. hijldrus ; both of which produce their offsets in a 
perpendicular direction. See Hook. FI. Lond. and Sm. Engl. FI. 
This is frequently cultivated in gardens under the name of sweet- 
scented Florentine Tulip, and is much admired for the elegance of 
its flowers, its gracefully pendent buds, and its agreeable and delicate 
perfume. A variety with double flowers is not uncommon in gar- 
dens. — Linnaeus remarks, that the flower of Tiilipa Sylvestris does 
not begin to open till about 10 o’clock in the morning, whereas the 
garden Tulip opens before 8. He reports, from Parkinson, that 
the roots boiled, and eaten with oil and pepper, are palatable and 
wholesome ; whereas Haller says they are acrid and cause vomiting. 
If, in the Winter, a bulb of the Tulip is cautiously divided in a vertical di- 
rection, and the few concentric coats of which it consists are carefully removed, 
the whole flower of the next Summer’s Tulip, with its petals, stamens, and 
pistil, may be very distinctly seen with the help of a common pocket magnify- 
ing glass, or even by the naked eye. This has not escaped the observation of 
one of our favourite Poets. 
“ Here lies a bulb, the child of earth, 
Buried alive beneath the clod, 
Ere long to spring, by second birth, 
A new and nobler work of God. 
"Tis said, that microscopic power 
Might through its swaddling folds descry 
The infant image of the flower, 
Too exquisite to meet the eye. 
This, vernal suns and rains will swell, 
Till from its dark abode it peep, 
Like Venus rising from her shell. 
Amidst the spring-tide of the deep. 
Two shapely leaves will first unfold, 
Then on a smooth elastic stem, 
The verdant bud shall turn to gold, 
And open in a diadem. 
Not one of Flora’s brilliant race, 
A form more perfect can display, — 
Art could not feign more simple grace. 
Nor Nature take a tint away.” — Montgomery. 
