Tulipa gesneriana

What to Eat

Edible parts: Root, Bulb, Flowers

The bulb is edible cooked. It can be dried and ground into a powder, then mixed with cereals when making bread. Some caution is advised regarding toxicity.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. In Yunnan.

Asia, China, Europe, India, Korea, Turkey, Türkiye,

How to Identify

A bulb plant. The leaves are narrow or sword shaped. It produces a single flower.

How to Grow

Easily grown in a sunny position in a well-drained sandy soil with added leafmould. The bulbs are very hardy, surviving soil temperatures down to about -12°c. This is a complicated species, or perhaps a group of very closely related species, some members of which are probably native to Europe. It is a parent of the cultivated garden tulips. The flowers are sweetly scented. Bulbs can be harvested in June after they have died down and then stored in a cool dry place, being planted out again in October.

Propagation: Seed is best sown in a shady part of a cold frame as soon as it is ripe in early summer, or in early autumn. A spring sowing of stored seed in the greenhouse also succeeds. Sow thinly so seedlings can be grown on without disturbance for their first growing season, applying liquid feeds to the pot if necessary. Once plants go dormant, divide the bulbs and pot 3–4 per pot. Grow on in the greenhouse for at least another year, then plant out when dormant. Offsets can be divided in July. Larger bulbs can go straight into permanent positions or be stored in a cool place and planted out in late autumn. Smaller bulbs are best potted and grown on in a cold frame for a year before planting out when dormant, from late summer to mid-autumn.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Other Uses

Plants grown indoors in pots have been shown to help remove toxins from the atmosphere, specifically formaldehyde, xylene and ammonia.

Tulipa gesneriana, the Didier's tulip or garden tulip, is a species of plant in the lily family, cultivated as an ornamental in many countries because of its large, showy flowers. This tall, late-blooming species has a single blooming flower and linear or broadly lanceolate leaves. This is a complex hybridized neo-species, and can also be called Tulipa × gesneriana. Most of the cultivars of tulip are derived from Tulipa gesneriana. It has become naturalised in parts of central and southern Europe and scattered locations in North America.

Notes

There are about 100 Tulipa species and many cultivated varieties.

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