''Tulipa cypria'', the Cyprus tulip, is a

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 ...

, an erect

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

bulbous herb, 15–40 cm high (in blossom), with

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin '' glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

, glaucous leaves. The four leaves are alternate, simple, entire, fleshy, the two lower ones larger, laceolate, 10-20 x 2–6 cm, with conspicuously undulate margins, the two higher much smaller, nearly linear. One terminal showy flower,

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla ( petals) or tepals when ...

cup shaped, of six free, petaloid segments, 2.5-9 x 1-3.5 cm, with dark blood-red colour, internally with a black blotch bordered by a yellow zone. It flowers March–April. The fruit is a capsule.The Endemic Plants of Cyprus, Texts: Takis Ch. Tsintides, Photographs: Laizos Kourtellarides, Cyprus Association of Professional Foresters, Bank of Cyprus Group, Nicosia 1998,

Habitat

The Cypriot tulip grows in ''

juniperus phoenicea ''Juniperus phoenicea'', the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region. Description ''Juniperus phoenicea'' is a large shrub or small tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and a rounded o ...

'' maquis pastures and cereal fields, on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

at altitudes of above sea level.

Distribution

The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, on

Akamas Akamas (Greek: , tr, Akama), is a promontory and cape at the northwest extremity of Cyprus with an area of 230 square kilometres. Ptolemy described it as a thickly wooded headland, divided into two by summits mountain rangerising towards the ...

Kormakitis Kormakitis (Cypriot Arabic: ; el, Κορμακίτης, ''Kormakítis''; tr, Kormacit or ) is a small village in Cyprus. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. Kormakitis is one of four traditionally Maronite villages in Cypr ...

and some areas of the Pentadaktylos range. It is very rare and strictly protected.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15546347

cypria The ''Cypria'' (; grc-gre, Κύπρια ''Kúpria''; Latin: ''Cypria'') is a lost epic poem of ancient Greek literature, which has been attributed to Stasinus and was quite well known in classical antiquity and fixed in a received text, but which ...

Endemic flora of Cyprus Ephemeral plants Plants described in 1934