TULIPA AUSTRALIS

Family and Genus:- See- LILIACEAE/Sect. ERIOSTEMONES

Common Names:- Wild tulip

Homotypic Synonyms:- Tulipa gallica var. australis, Tulipa sylvestris subsp.

australis.

Meaning:- Tulipa. Derived from the Persian word thoulyban, for a turban.

Australis (L) Southern, of the south.

General description:- Short hairless perennial, patch-forming by means of

underground stolons.

Bulb:-

1) c. 2.4 x 1.5 cm, ovoid, sometimes producing underground stolons, tunics

coriaceous, dark brown to reddish-brown, prolonged into a neck.

Stem:-

1) 10-30 cm. slender. not more than 2 mm diam.

Leaves:-

1) Closely set near ground level, erecto-patent to somewhat falcate, linear, 8-16

mm. wide, green or slightly glaucous, often with purplish margins.

Flowers:-

1) 1(-2), nodding in bud, opening widely only in the mid-day sun,

2) Perianth segments, 20-35(-37) x 4·5-9 mm, narrowly ovate-elliptical, acute to

acuminate, uniformly yellow above, often tinged with green, or crimson beneath.

3) Stamens:

a) filaments, 5-8 mm.

b) anthers, 2·5-4 mm. yellow.

Fruit:-

1) Capsule, 17-30 x 14-16 mm, globose to oblong-ellipsoid.

Key features:-

1) Perianth-segments pure yellow inside, not darkening towards the base.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Meadows, grassy and rocky places, occasionally in open woodland. 500-

1150 m.

Distribution:- Scattered throughout mainland Greece and Peleponnisos, S. Europe

and W. Anatolica. Previously unrecored from Crete.

Flowering time:- Apr-June

Photos by:- Steve Lenton