Tulips have become an almost expected sign of spring – their bright colours and bold blooms a welcome change after a long winter. You may be surprised, however, that these plants are not as simple as they seem.
An illustration of “Tulipa variegata” painted by Magdalena Bouchard in the late 18th century.
Tulips in their Native Habitat
Those most familiar with tulips for their widespread cultivation in Holland may be surprised to hear that the genera does not appear in Western cultivation until the mid-16th Century - relatively late, in the grand scheme of things.
Tulips are thought to be native to Asia Minor, the Near East, and the Mediterranean, where they can still be found growing on mountain slopes and steppes. These tulips look quite different from the ones you’d see in most gardens today They’re often smaller, with interestingly-shaped flowers, petals are often pointed and thy have smaller, thinner leaves. Most modern tulips –Tulipa x gesneriana, are thought to be descendants of Tulipa suaveolens, a red flower native to Crimea which sultan Selim II loved so much that he had 30,000 bulbs brought for his palace gardens.
The first recorded mention of the tulip in all of human history comes from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a book of poetry likely written in the late 11th or early 12th century. Similarly, the first images of tulips comes from tiles excavated from Kubadabad Palace, a former summer residence in Turkey which dates to the 1220s-1230s. This doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t cultivated before then, just that no earlier records survive. Indeed, tulips were incredibly important throughout the cultures of its native range.It’s been hypothesized that this is due both to the flower’s ubiquity in native landscapes and to its Farsi name, laleh, using the same letters as Allah.
Those most familiar with tulips for their widespread cultivation in Holland may be surprised to hear that the genera does not appear in Western cultivation until the mid-16th Century - relatively late, in the grand scheme of things.
Tulips are thought to be native to Asia Minor, the Near East, and the Mediterranean, where they can still be found growing on mountain slopes and steppes. These tulips look quite different from the ones you’d see in most gardens today They’re often smaller, with interestingly-shaped flowers, petals are often pointed and thy have smaller, thinner leaves. Most modern tulips –Tulipa x gesneriana, are thought to be descendants of Tulipa suaveolens, a red flower native to Crimea which sultan Selim II loved so much that he had 30,000 bulbs brought for his palace gardens.
The first recorded mention of the tulip in all of human history comes from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a book of poetry likely written in the late 11th or early 12th century. Similarly, the first images of tulips comes from tiles excavated from Kubadabad Palace, a former summer residence in Turkey which dates to the 1220s-1230s. This doesn’t necessarily mean they weren’t cultivated before then, just that no earlier records survive. Indeed, tulips were incredibly important throughout the cultures of its native range.It’s been hypothesized that this is due both to the flower’s ubiquity in native landscapes and to its Farsi name, laleh, using the same letters as Allah.
A tile from Kubadabad Palace. Tiles from this palace show
the first visual representation of tulips.
The tulip was incredibly important in the culture of the Ottoman Empire. It was frequent imagery on everything from pottery to tombstones to prayer mats and remains so. Look close at a map, and you can find place names such as Laleli (place of the tulips) – now the center of Istanbul’s textile trade, but which once may have bloomed with flowers.
Tulips in Europe
During the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, the tulip became a national symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Not only did the flower show up in artwork – especially ceramics – but early horticulturists also began the process of selective breeding, leading the way for our modern tulips.
It is during this period that tulips are thought to have entered Western Europe, via an Ottoman ambassador to the Habsburgs, who first recorded used of the word “tulip” in a 1554 manuscript. The earliest known European cultivation is only five years later in 1559, and the flowers were still rare enough in 1565 for a botanical illustration to label one as Narcissus (daffodil).
This invisibility would quickly disappear. In 1590s Holland, Charles L’Ecluse planted the flower at the University of Leiden’s gardens, a leader in botanical innovation, and discovered it could tolerate Northern Europe’s harsh climate. From there, tulips began to spread as a luxury item and status symbol in Holland, due in part to the bright petal colours, difficult to find in other plants. Trading in tulip bulbs became intensely profitable, leading to a period widely called “Tulip Mania,” which occurred in Amsterdam from 1634 to February 1637. During this period, a single bulb could allegedly go for as much as 12,000 guilders – about the price of a fashionable Amsterdam townhouse.
Tulips in Europe
During the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, the tulip became a national symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Not only did the flower show up in artwork – especially ceramics – but early horticulturists also began the process of selective breeding, leading the way for our modern tulips.
It is during this period that tulips are thought to have entered Western Europe, via an Ottoman ambassador to the Habsburgs, who first recorded used of the word “tulip” in a 1554 manuscript. The earliest known European cultivation is only five years later in 1559, and the flowers were still rare enough in 1565 for a botanical illustration to label one as Narcissus (daffodil).
This invisibility would quickly disappear. In 1590s Holland, Charles L’Ecluse planted the flower at the University of Leiden’s gardens, a leader in botanical innovation, and discovered it could tolerate Northern Europe’s harsh climate. From there, tulips began to spread as a luxury item and status symbol in Holland, due in part to the bright petal colours, difficult to find in other plants. Trading in tulip bulbs became intensely profitable, leading to a period widely called “Tulip Mania,” which occurred in Amsterdam from 1634 to February 1637. During this period, a single bulb could allegedly go for as much as 12,000 guilders – about the price of a fashionable Amsterdam townhouse.
An example of Tulip Breaking Virus.
Most popular in Tulip Mania were those flowers labeled as “Bizarden,” or Bizarres, which featured two colors on petals in strange, stripey arrangements. While unknown at the time, these strange arrangements are caused by tulip breaking virus, a set of potyviruses. While these viruses do cause unique colour patterns, they also severely decrease a plant’s ability to create new bulbs, leading to smaller and weaker flowers over time – until the plant dies off completely.
This, in the end, would cause tulip mania to come to an end. Tulips were sold on speculation, meaning folks would buy next year’s bulbs based on the current year’s flowering, for example, buying flowers for the 1636 season in the spring of 1635. When the quantity of bulbs sold failed to materialize in 1637 due to ongoing impacts of tulip breaking virus, combined with the flower declining in fashionability, the bubble burst, and Tulip Mania came to an end.
While the exact extent of Tulip Mania participation is unclear, contemporary scholars think it was likely restricted to a small set of the Dutch elite. It remains a cultural touchpoint, and tulips are, once again, important in the economy of the Netherlands. More than one million people visit Keukenhof Show Gardens to see the tulips every year, and exports of tulip bulbs comprise up to 10% of the Dutch GDP.
This, in the end, would cause tulip mania to come to an end. Tulips were sold on speculation, meaning folks would buy next year’s bulbs based on the current year’s flowering, for example, buying flowers for the 1636 season in the spring of 1635. When the quantity of bulbs sold failed to materialize in 1637 due to ongoing impacts of tulip breaking virus, combined with the flower declining in fashionability, the bubble burst, and Tulip Mania came to an end.
While the exact extent of Tulip Mania participation is unclear, contemporary scholars think it was likely restricted to a small set of the Dutch elite. It remains a cultural touchpoint, and tulips are, once again, important in the economy of the Netherlands. More than one million people visit Keukenhof Show Gardens to see the tulips every year, and exports of tulip bulbs comprise up to 10% of the Dutch GDP.
