Tulipa fosteriana W.Irving, 1906

Tojibaev, Komiljon, Dekhkonov, Davron, Ergashov, Ibrokhimjon, Sun, Hang, Deng, Tao & Yusupov, Ziyoviddin, 2022, The synopsis of the genus Tulipa (Liliaceae) in Uzbekistan, Phytotaxa 573 (2), pp. 163-214 : 172

1.6. Tulipa fosteriana W.Irving in Gard. Chron., Ser. 3, 39: 322. (1906).

Type:—figure 130 in Gard. Chron. Ser. 3, 39: 323. (1906) (holotype).

Description:—Bulb ovoid, 2–5 cm thick; tunic blackish-brown, coriaceous, inside densely covered with long silky hairs, especially at the base and at the top; stem 15–35(50) cm long, robust, glabrous, the upper part of stem and peduncle pubescent; leaves 3–4(6), large, deflexed, scattered, slightly undulate, glaucous or green, pubescent, ciliate at margins, not exceeding the flower; lower leaf oblong to elliptic, 3–15 cm broad, situated on the soil level; upper leaves progressively decreasing in size; flower solitary, large, widely cup-shaped; perigone segments bright red, 4.5–12.5 cm long, commonly obtuse with a very short pubescent tip; the basal blotch usually 3-pointed, sharp or blurred, black, dirty violet or olive-coloured, more or less widely margined with yellow (rarely without yellow margin), sometimes yellow throughout; outer segments oblong-elliptic to oblong; inner segments obovate to oblong; stamens one third to two-fifths the length of perigone; filaments glabrous, black, sometimes yellow; anthers violet, twice the length of the filaments; pollen purple-brown or yellow; ovary green, slightly shorter than anthers, with sessile stigma; capsule 2.5–3.0 cm broad, 5–7 cm long.

General distribution:—Western Pamir-Alay ( Tajikistan, Uzbekistan), Afghanistan (probably, introduced).

Distribution in Uzbekistan:—I-5 Kuhistan district (I-5-c Urgut region).

Phenology:—Flowering: April–May; fruiting: May–June.

Ecology:—Clayey, stony and gravelly slopes, rock ledges in middle mountain zone, 1500–2600 m a.s.l.

Etymology:—The species was named after Prof. M. Foster, who gardened at Shelford, near Cambridge ( Wilford 2006).

Note:—It is one of the most beautiful tulip species introduced in Europe from Uzbekistan. Austrian (or German) entomologist J. Haberhauer collected bulbs of this species from the Emirate of Bukhara (the exact location is unknown) during the Central Asian expedition of 1861–1862 and sent these bulbs to the famous European gardener C.G. van Tubergen. 26 May 1906, after several decades of cultivation in Europe, Irwing (1906) described this species in Garden`s Chronicle. However, the scientific name T. fosteriana has been used for the first time one year before, in 1905, when this plant won an Award of Merit from the Royal Horticulture Society. Irwing predicted a great prospect of this tulip in ornamental gardening and noted in Garden`s Chronicle that «the flowers are of very large size, and of a rich, intense, glowing, crimson colour, with a darker blotch at the base of the segments; of robust habit, and as easily grown as many of the other brilliant species from this part of Eastern Turkestan, T. fosteriana will probably become a favorite plant when more common» ( Fig. 3C ).

Specimens examined:— UZBEKISTAN: Kuhistan district , Urgut region , Zarafshan Range , Samarkand Mts., near the pass Takhta-Karacha, 16 April 1915, Popov 133 ( TASH!) ; near the pass Takhta-Karacha , 14 May 1916, Popov 707 ( TASH!) ; Samarkand Mts. , near Agalyk, 8 April 1925, Repnikov s.n. ( TASH!) ; Samarkand Province , near the village Alla-Irishan, granite mountains, 10 May 1925, Popov 120, 125, 134 ( TASH!) ; Samarkand Province , near the village Sazagan, under the pass Urtabel, 14 May 1925, Popov 226 ( TASH!) ; surroundings of Samarkand , Urgut, 5 April 1930, Merkulowich s.n. ( SAM) ; Amankutan , Yulsay, on stony slope, 6 April 1931, Nikanorov 3 ( TASH!) ; Amankutan , watershed between Yulsay and Khodzhisay, 9 May 1931, Nikanorov s.n. ( TASH!) ; Samarkand Mts. , surroundings of the village Aksay, upper reaches of the river Aksay, fine earth slopes, 7 May 1931, Butkov 42 ( TASH!) ; Samarkand Mts. , surroundings of the village Aksay, among rocks in the upper reaches of the river Aksay, 15–20 May 1931, Butkov 218 ( TASH!) ; Uzbekistania , inter rupes solo argilloso sub cacumine Aktag in montibus Samarkandicis, 20 May 1931, Butkov s.n. ( MW) ; Amankutan forestry, 24 June 1935, Negmatov s.n. ( SAM) ; pass Kamangaran , north slope, 29 June 1935, Smirnova s.n. ( SAM) ; surroundings of Urgut , wet meadow near snow, below the top of Mts. Saryk-tau, 2 May 1936, Gnezdillo 33 ( TASH!) ; surroundings of the village Urgut , the ravine of the river Saylyk, eastern slope, 2 May 1936, Gnezdillo 26 ( TASH!) ; surroundings of the village Urgut , the top of Mt. Kara-kurgan, 3 May 1936, Gnezdillo 47 ( TASH!) ; Mt. Kuhi-Surkh , the gorge Dzhan-kara, wet meadow among rocks near the springs, near the village Ishan, 17 May 1936, Gnezdillo 64 ( TASH!) ; mountains Kyr-tau , Mt. Kuhi-Surkh, on sceleton soil in the gorge Baltydivana, 19 May 1937, Gnezdillo 58 ( TASH!) ; Sangi-dzhuman , eastern slope, 27 May 1937, Fayziev s.n. ( TASH, SAM) ; spurs of Zeravshan Range , mountains Kyr-tau, south-east of the village Kudya-Dag, near the pass, 2 July 1937, Granitov, Dolgikh 321 ( TASH!) ; Urgut , April 1940, Popov, Zakirov s.n. ( SAM) ; surroundings of Urgut , upper mountain zone, July 1952, Khalmatov 52 ( TASH!) ; surroundings of Samarkand , Amankutan, 10 May 1940, Chugaeva s.n. ( TASH, SAM) ; Amankutan , 6 April 1947, Proskoriakov s.n. ( SAM) ; Amankutan forestry, 28 April 1965, Pryakhin s.n. ( TASH!) ; above the pass Takhta-Karacha , limestones, 3 June 1986, Kazakbaev, Levichev 45 ( TASH!) ; watershed of the Zeravshan Range , ca. 2 km west of the pass Takhta-Karacha, 1878 m, 2 May 2017, Shomurodov, Beshko, Kodyrov s.n. ( TASH!) ; mountains Aktash , village Kaynar, Kaynarsay, 1700–1750 m, Kodyrov, Juramurodov, Makhmudzhanov s.n. ( TASH!) ; above the pass Takhta-Karaca , limestones, 14 April 2018, Kodyrov s.n. ( TASH!) ; mountains Kurgantau , Sevazsay, north slope, 1250–1300 m, 14 April 2018, Kodyrov, Juramurodov, Makhmudjanov U 062 ( TASH!) ; southern slope of the Zeravshan Range , upper reaches of the river Kashkadarya above the village Khazrat-Bashir, 21 June 2018, Tojibaev, Beshko, Kodyrov s.n. ( TASH!) ; above the village Saygus , 12 April 2019, Kodyrov 20191204001 ( TASH!) ; surroundings of the village Tersak , Kyzylbel, north slope, 1871 m, 23 April 2019, Kodyrov 20190423012 ( TASH!) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Species of Tulipa sect. Lanatae: A. T. ingens, B. T. carinata, C. T. fosteriana. Scale bars, 1 cm.