TU'LIPA GESNERIANA. 
COMMON TULIP. 
Class. Order. 
HEXANDRIA . MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
LILTACE/E. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Levant. 
2 feet. 
Apr. May. 
Perennial. 
in 1577. 
No. 245. 
As the Tulip was introduced to this country from 
the eastern part of the globe, it is not remarkable 
that it should be distinguished by a Persian name. 
A term somewhat similar is used in that country for 
a turban, and it is easy to conceive why it may have 
been transferred to this attractive flower. Gesneriana 
was adopted as a specific name in honour of the 
celebrated Conrad Gesner, who introduced the flower 
to notice by the publication of a figure and descrip- 
tion of it. He had also the honour of being the first 
man on record that collected a museum of natural 
history ; and whose researches formed the foundation 
of the present science of botany. 
Gesner, though rather of weakly constitution, 
undertook various laborious journeys in pursuit of 
plants, especially on the Alps. He died at less 
than fifty years of age ; and it is said, that when he 
found his end approaching, he requested to be carried 
into his museum, where he expired amid the monu- 
ments of his labours, thankful for what he had been 
able to accomplish, and supported by all the pious 
hopes and consolations of a Christian philosopher. 
The Tulipa Gesneriana, or garden Tulip, is the 
62 
