Tulipa (genus, tulip)

Japanese name: チューリップ
Scientific name: Tulipa

[Overview]
A bulbous perennial of which about 150 species are known in the wild.
There are a great many horticultural cultivars, and in terms of cultivation history, production and trade, it is one of the most important bulb plants in the world.
It has an underground bulb.
The leaves are linear, ovate or lanceolate and alternate in a rosette.
A single stem arises from the bulb and bears 1 to several flowers at its tip, facing upward or sideways. The corolla is bell-shaped to funnel-shaped with 6 petals, and many have a blotch at the inner base of the perianth.
Cultivars are said to have numbered as many as 8,000 including old ones, but many have now died out. There are 11 groups based on flowering time and flower shape, and together with 4 groups of wild species, the 15 groups make up the current horticultural classification of tulips.

[History]
It had long been cultivated in the Arab countries, but it was introduced to Europe from Turkey in the 16th century. In the 17th century, centered on the Netherlands, a great boom known as the Tulip Mania arose, in which the bulbs became the object of exorbitant speculation and threw the European economy into great confusion.
It arrived in Japan in the late Edo period, but full-scale cultivation began in 1919 in Oago Village, Niigata.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by dividing bulbs.
It prefers well-drained sandy soil, but this need not be a great concern when growing it at home.
It dislikes acidity, so keep the soil neutral.
It dislikes heat and humidity, so in summer the bulbs must be dug up and stored dry.

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