Tulipa greigii Regel

Kubentayev, Serik A., Baasanmunkh, Shukherdorj, Alibekov, Daniyar T., Tojibaev, Komiljon Sh., Nyamgerel, Nudkhuu, Ivashchenko, Anna A., Tsegmed, Zagarjav, Epiktetov, Vladimir G., Sitpayeva, Gulnara T., Izbastina, Klara S., Idrissova, Zhansaya T., Mukhtubayeva, Saule K., Abubakirova, Nurganym B., Gil, Hee-Young & Choi, Hyeok Jae, 2024, Revisiting the genus Tulipa (Liliaceae) in Kazakhstan, the country with the richest tulip diversity worldwide, PhytoKeys 250, pp. 95-163 : 95-163

Tulipa greigii Regel , Gartenflora 290: 773 (1873)

Fig. 20

Type.

• Illustration t. 773 in Gartenflora 22 (1873) [lectotype designated by Christenhusz et al. 2013: 312].

General distribution.

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan ( Tojibaev et al. 2022).

Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat.

Chu-Ili Range, Karatau, Kyrgyz Alatau, Moiynkum, Trans-Ili Kungey Alatau, Turkestan, and Western Tian Shan. This species grows on clay and rubbly slopes up to 2400 m a. s. l., as well as on foothill plains and mountain flutes.

Conservation status.

Tulipa greigii is a least concern species at the global level ( IUCN 2024). It is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category III).

Phenology.

Flowering in April – June; fruiting in June – July.

Notes.

Tulipa greigii was described by E. L. Regel in 1873 from the Karatau Mountains, based on herbarium collections of A. Sivertsev and B. Fedtschenko, initially as a variety of T. altaica var. karatavica Regel. In the same year, it was described by the same author as an independent species ( Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019; Tojibaev et al. 2022). The species is named in honor of S. A. Greig, president of the Russian Botanical Society of Gardeners. It contains unusual speckles on its leaves that serve as the progenitors of hundreds of tulip varieties. This species often hybridizes with T. kaufmanniana and T. alberti in nature ( Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). Vvedensky (1935) noted that the collection of this species from Syrdarya deserves a separate study as it differs from the northern (typical) T. greigii in that it has longer pedicels and gradually decreasing leaves at the top. In our opinion, this population represents the ecological variability in this species.

Figures

Figure 20. Tulipa greigii in Kazakhstan A, B general habits with different morphological form C flowers with different color. (Photos: A by V. Epiktetov, B, C by S. Kubentayev).