Tulipa clusiana, the lady tulip, is an Asian species of tulip native to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and the western Himalayas of India. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental and is reportedly naturalized in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Tunisia, Greece, and Turkey.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesZonneveld, B.J.M. (2009). The systematic value of nuclear genome size for "all" species of Tulipa L. (Liliaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 281: 217-245.Dobignard, D. & Chatelain, C. (2010). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 1: 1-455. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.Kumar, S. (2012). Herbaceous flora of Jaunsar-Bawar (Uttarakhand), India: enumerations. Phytotaxonomy 12: 33-56.Dimpoulos, P., Raus, T., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, T., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A., & Tzanoudakis, D. (2013). Vascular plants of Greece. An annotated checklist: 1-372. Botanic gardens and botanical museum Berlin-Dahlem, Berlin and Hellenic botanical society, Athens.Everett, D. (2013). The genus Tulipa Tulips of the world: 1-380. Kew publishing, Kew.Christenhusz, M.J.M., Govaerts, R., David, J.C., Hall, T., Borland, K., Roberts, P.S., Tuomisto, A., Buerki, S., Chase, M.W. & Fay, M.F. (2013). Tiptoe through the tulips - cultural history, molecular phylogenetics and classification of Tulipa (Liliaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 172: 280-328.Eker, I., Babaç, M.T. & Koyuncu, M. (2014). Revision of the genus Tulipa L. (Liliaceae) in Turkey. Phytotaxa 157: 1-112.
The plant grows to a height of 6 to 12 in (15 to 30 cm). It flowers during the spring season.Redouté, Pierre Joseph. 1803. Les Liliacees 1:plate 37.Altervista Flora Italiana, Tulipano di Clusius, Tulipa clusiana DC.
The following cultivars have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. All are relatively small, with narrow pointed tepals, often bi-coloured. 'Cynthia' (outsides pink edged pale yellow, insides pale yellow) 'Lady Jane' (inners white, outers pink bordered with white) 'Peppermintstick' (outers cerise pink with white borders, inners white) 'Tinka' (yellow inside, red bordered yellow on the outside) var. chrysantha (yellow flowers, flushed red on the outside)
Gallery
References
External links
John Grimshaw's Garden Diary: Tulipa clusiana