''Tulipa praestans'' is a species of

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...

native to the mountains of

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. Many well known

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

s have been formed from the original plant.

Description

It is a low-growing species tulip, and has tall stems. It has 3 to 7 grey-green leaves that are downy and fringed with hairs (ciliate). It can have one flower (normally in the wild,) or it can produce multiple flowers per bulb, meaning it can have a pair of flowers or up to a maximum of five flowers per bulb. It blooms in April, with cup shaped flowers. The flowers are wide, in orange-red, orange-scarlet, or scarlet. The

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are yellow or purple.

Taxonomy

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''praestans'', refers to the Latin for 'remarkable',' pre - eminent, superior, excellent or distinguished'. ''T. praestans'' was originally described and published by

Carl Anton von Meyer Carl Anton von Meyer (in Russian: Карл Анто́нович фон Ме́йер, ''Karl Antonovich von Meyer'') (1 April 1795 – 24 February 1855) was a German, Russified botanist and explorer. Meyer was born in Vitebsk. He received his educa ...

The Gardeners' Chronicle ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'' was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine ''Horticulture Week''. History Founded in 1841 by the horticulturists Josep ...

Series 3, Vol.33 on page 239 in 1903.

Distribution and habitat

It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

areas of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

Range

It is found in

, in the

Pamir-Alay The Pamir-Alay (also ''Pamiro-Alay'', russian: Памиро-Алай) is a mountain system in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, encompassing four main mountain ranges extending west from the Tian Shan Mountains, and located north of the main ...

mountain system.

Habitat

It grows on rocky slopes, screes, and in light woodland, at an altitude of above sea level.

Cultivars

The following cultivars represent praestans in cultivation: 'Fuselier' always has * ''T. praestans'' ''Fuselier''; grows up to 30 cm tall, with grey-green, lance-shaped leaves and stems in mid spring, bearing between three and five, cup-shaped, brilliant red, or bright red flowers, that can measure to 12 cm across. It has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. It is valued by gardeners for its low growth height and habit of producing many flowers per bulb. 'Fusilier' even has a sport, 'Unicum'. * ''T. praestans'' 'Unicum', with the leaves edged in cream. * ''T. praestans'' 'Moondance', - has deep orange flowers which are relatively large and have pointy petals. * ''T. praestans'' 'Zwanenburg' -

Anna Pavord Anna Pavord (born 20 September 1940) ''People of Today'' (2017) Debrett's, "Anna Pavord" is a British horticultural writer. She wrote for ''The Observer'' for over twenty years and for ''The independent'' for over thirty years - from its first to ...

in her book The Tulip describes ‘Zwanenburg’ as having “.......particularly striking flowers of a rich, clear red, which open more widely than other varieties”. A taller variety at 35 cm. * ''T. praestans'' 'Shogun' - blooming in mid- to late spring, has single, cup-shaped, yellow-orange flowers, flushed red at the base. * ''T. praestans'' 'Tubergen's Variety' - has two to five flowers generally with a basal yellow suffusion and is a good doer, persisting in light soils without annual lifting.

Toxicity

All parts may cause severe discomfort if ingested. Contact may cause a skin reaction.

References

Other sources

* Christenhusz, M. J. M. et al. 2013. Tiptoe through the tulips – cultural history, molecular phylogenetics and classification of Tulipa (Liliaceae). Bot. * J. Linn. Soc. 172:319. Note: lists as Tulipa praestans H. B. May * Czerepanov, S. K. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR) Cambridge University Press. Note: lists as Tulipa praestans Hoog * Encke, F. et al. 1993. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 14. Auflage Note: lists as Tulipa praestans Hoog * Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm. Note: re. Brazilian common names * Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening Note: lists as Tulipa praestans Hoog * Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. Note: lists as Tulipa praestans Hoog * Walters, S. M. et al., eds. 1986–2000. European garden flora. Note: lists as Tulipa praestans Hoog {{Taxonbar, from=Q977756 praestans Plants described in 1903 Flora of Tajikistan