Tulipa humilis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae, found in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Iran, and the North Caucasus region of Russia. The flowers are pink with yellow centers. Its preferred habitat are rocky mountain slopes.Pacific Bulb SocietyHerbert, William 1844. Edwards's Botanical Register 30: 30–31 description in Latin, commentary in English. It is known by several other names in horticulture.Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1984). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 8: 1-632. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.Rechinger, K.H., Browicz, K., Persson, K. & Wendelbo, P. (1990). Flora Iranica 165: 1-194. Naturhistorisches Museums Wien.Everett, D. (2013). The genus Tulipa Tulips of the world: 1-380. Kew publishing, Kew.Eker, I., Babaç, M.T. & Koyuncu, M. (2014). Revision of the genus Tulipa L. (Liliaceae) in Turkey. Phytotaxa 157: 1-112.
Varieties and synonyms Tulipa humilis is a very variable species in both size and the appearance of the flowers. Five varieties are accepted, and different synonyms are used in horticulture. Tulipa humilis var. aucheriana (synonyms Tulipa aucheriana and T. aucheriana subsp. westii ) – southeastern Turkey, Anti-Lebanon, Iran, and Afghanistan. Cultivated plants can be treated as a cultivar group, T. humilis Aucheriana Group. Tulipa humilis var. humilis (synonyms Tulipa caucasica , T. humilis subsp. matinae , T. lipskyi , T. lownei , T. lownei var. haynei , T. narcissiodora , and T. violacea var. pallida ) – southeastern Turkey, Anti-Lebanon, North Caucasus, and northern Iran. Tulipa humilis var. kurdica (synonym Tulipa kurdica ) – northern Iraq Tulipa humilis var. pulchella (synonyms Tulipa pulchella , T. sylvestris var. pulchella , T. alpina ) – southern and south-central Turkey, northern Iraq, and northern Iran. Cultivated plants are in the T. humilis Pulchella Group. Tulipa humilis var. violacea (synonym Tulipa violacea ) – southeastern Transcaucasus. Cultivated plants are in the T. humilis Violacea Group.
Cultivation Under the synonym Tulipa aucheriana this plant has been given the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
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