Week 12 Discussion

A Thumbnail Tulip History

Originally native to the Mediterranean area of Europe through central Asia, tulips are related to the lily family. These, shown in their native habitat, are Tulipa kaufmanniana. These wild species are much tougher than the hybrids commonly found in gardens today.

It is believed that the Persians cultivated tulips from the 10th century A. D. The Ottoman empire revered tulips, and the letters used to write the Ottoman word for tulip were the same as used for the name for God. They called it the flower of Allah. Tulips were embroidered onto underclothes, and tulip-shaped amulets were worn to guard against misfortune. Tulips were widely planted in aristocratic gardens and were featured in literature and songs. Tulip images were everywhere. The tiles below with the tulip motif are from the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul.

European diplomats to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century discovered tulips and brought them home. They became highly popular in Europe. Holland in particular is known for its association with tulips. 

The Dutch Golden Age (1588 - 1672) generated a lot of wealth, and a significant amount of disposable income was available for luxuries. Tulips became one of those luxuries. Tulip mania is the name given to a phenomenon that developed in Holland from 1634 to 1637. Demand for tulips caused prices to skyrocket. A futures market was established to allow investors to bid on the next season's crops. At one point, a single bulb for an especially rare tulip species sold for 6,000 florins, the Dutch currency at the time. One florin could buy a bushel of grain. In 1637, the bubble suddenly burst. The price of tulips had finally exceeded the amount that people were willing to pay for them. Speculators who had bought tulips for high prices or who had signed contracts committing them to buy tulips at fixed high prices faced financial ruin.

Most tulip species are one color. Each plant has one blossom. Seven blossoms in the bouquet below means seven plants.

One of the tulip hybrids given credit for bringing about tulip mania is a multi-colored variety that is known as the Rembrandt tulip today. The name has nothing to do with anything that Rembrandt did. The association is because it first appeared in the town of Leiden, Netherlands, Rembrandt's birthplace. The painting below by Johannes Bosschaert (1606/08 – 1628/29) shows what they probably looked like.

It was eventually learned that the multi-colored blossoms were caused by a virus spread by aphids. The virus remains in tulip bulbs over succeeding generations and can spread to other plants, but tulip seeds are free of it. The Netherlands banned the further spread of infected tulip bulbs. Tulips grown from seeds of previously infected plants have blossoms with only one color. 

Today, tulips are still an important part of the Netherlands' economy. It produces 4.2 billion tulip bulbs annually and exports half of them. The Netherlands is the largest exporter of tulip bulbs in the world.

The range within which tulips grow naturally has expanded to most of Europe and parts of North America. They are popular in other places, too, including Japan. The photo below looks like it could have been taken in the Netherlands, but it is actually in Japan. The windmill was constructed in Holland and shipped to and assembled at Sakura, Chiba Provence, Japan in 1994. It is named De Liefde Windmill after the first Dutch trading ship to reach Japan in the year 1600.

Here is a cute Japanese children's song about tulips.

There are fine garden displays of tulips around the world in the spring. This photo was taken in London's Kew Gardens. The tulip planters are bordered with primroses.

Most tulips today are hybrids of a variety created in Asia centuries ago; T. gesneriana.

Here is a diagram of the parts of tulips.

The offset is a new bud growing from the original. They appear when the plant is blooming. Removing offsets after the above ground part of the plant has died off and the bulb dug up is how new tulip buds are acquired. Offsets, sometimes called bulblets, usually bloom in their second year.

Tulips can grow from seeds, but it is much more common to grow them from bulbs.

Here is what a tulip bulb is made of.

Tulip leaves grow from single vertical stems that have a single blossom at the top. This photo shows tulip buds from several tulip plants, one per bulb.

Appearances can be misleading. A fully open tulip blossom looks like it has six petals.

Mature tulip blossoms lose their tepals, exposing the seed-bearing fruit.

After the seeds mature, every part of the plant above the bulb dies off. The bulb becomes dormant until the next spring when it begins to grow again.

The variety of tulips come in many colors and shapes besides the ones shown so far. Here are some more. This first is called the Parrot tulip. It appears to be similar to the Rembrandt tulip except that the edge of the tepals is fringed and the colors are not so sharply divided.

Speaking of fringes, here are Yellow Fringed tulips.

These Lasting Love tulips are lovable. 

Some tulip varieties even have doubled blossoms like this Double Late tulip.

Artwork