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Etymology

The word tulip, first mentioned in western Europe in or around 1554 and seemingly derived from the "Turkish Letters" of diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, first appeared in English as tulipa or tulipant, entering the language by way of French: tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend ("muslin" or "gauze"), and may be ultimately derived from the Persian: دلبند‎‎ delband ("Turban"), this name being applied because of a perceived resemblance of the shape of a tulip flower to that of a turban.This may have been due to a translation error in early times, when it was fashionable in the Ottoman Empire to wear tulips on turbans. The translator possibly confused the flower for the turban.

TULIP Species

The classification into four subgenera below is based on Christenhusz et al. (2013).[2]

This list was used as the basis for The Genus Tulipa. Tulips of the World (D. Everett, 2013, Kew Publishing).[14]

Subgenus Clusianae

Tulipa clusiana Redouté (Lady Tulip) - Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, W Himalayas
Tulipa harazensis Rech.f. - Iran
Tulipa linifolia Regel (Bokhara Tulip) - Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa montana Lindl. - Turkmenistan, Iran

Subgenus Orithyia

Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb. - Altay Krai, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa heterophylla (Regel) Baker - Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa sinkiangensis Z.M.Mao - Xinjiang
Tulipa uniflora (L.) Besser ex Baker (Siberian Tulip) - Siberia, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Kazakhstan

Subgenus Tulipa

Tulipa agenensis in Jerusalemforest, IsraelTulipa agenensis sharonensis in HaSharon, Israel

Tulipa agenensis Redouté (Eyed Tulip) - Middle East
Tulipa albanica Kit Tan & Shuka (Albanian Tulip) - Albania
Tulipa alberti Regel (Albert’s Tulip) - - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa aleppensis Boiss. ex Regel (Aleppo Tulip)- Turkey, Syria, Lebanon
Tulipa altaica Pall. ex Spreng. (Altai Tulip) - Altai Krai, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa anisophylla Vved. - Tajikistan
Tulipa armena Boiss. (Armenian Tulip) - Turkey, Iran, South Caucasus
Tulipa banuensis Grey-Wilson (Afghan Tulip) - Afghanistan
Tulipa borszczowii Regel - Kazakhstan
Tulipa botschantzevae S.N.Abramova & Zakal. - Turkmenistan, Iran
Tulipa butkovii Botschantz. - Uzbekistan
Tulipa carinata Vved. (Pamir Tulip) - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan
Tulipa cypria Stapf ex Turrill (Cyprian Tulip) - Cyprus
Tulipa dubia Vved. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
Tulipa faribae Ghahr., Attar & Ghahrem.-Nejad - Iran
Tulipa ferganica Vved. - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa foliosa - Turkey
Tulipa fosteriana W.Irving - Afghanistan, Central Asia
Tulipa gesneriana L. (Garden Tulip) - Turkey
Tulipa greigii Regel (Maculate Tulip) - Iran, Central Asia
Tulipa heweri Raamsd. - Afghanistan
Tulipa hissarica Popov & Vved. - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa hoogiana B.Fedtsch. - Turkmenistan, Iran
Tulipa hungarica Borbás (Rhodope Tulip) - Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria
Tulipa iliensis Regel - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang
Tulipa ingens (Tubergen’s Tulip) - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa julia K.Koch (Julia Tulip) - Turkey, South Caucasus, Syria, Lebanon
Tulipa kaufmanniana Regel (Waterlily Tulip) - Central Asia
Tulipa kolpakowskiana Regel - [15] - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Xinjiang, Afghanistan
Tulipa korolkowii Regel - Central Asia
Tulipa kosovarica Kit Tan, Shuka & Krasniqi - Kosovo
Tulipa kuschkensis B.Fedtsch. - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iran
Tulipa lanata Regel - Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, W Himalayas
Tulipa lehmanniana Merckl. (Lehmann’s Tulip) - Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia
Tulipa lemmersii - Kazakhstan
Tulipa ostrowskiana Regel - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa persica (Lindl.) Sweet (Persian Tulip) - Iran
Tulipa platystemon Vved. - Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa praestans H.B.May (Multiflowered Tulip) - Tajikistan
Tulipa scardica Bornm. (Balkan Tulip) - Kosovo, Greece
Tulipa scharipovii Tojibaev - Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa schmidtii Fomin - Iran, South Caucasus
Tulipa serbica Tatic & Krivošej - Kosovo, Serbia
Tulipa sosnowskyi Achv. & Mirzoeva - South Caucasus
Tulipa suaveolens Roth (Scented or Crimean Tulip) - Crimea, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhastan
Tulipa subquinquefolia Vved. - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa systola Stapf - Middle East
Tulipa talassica Lazkov - Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa tetraphylla Regel - Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan
Tulipa × tschimganica Botschantz. - Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Tulipa ulophylla Wendelbo - Iran
Tulipa undulatifolia Boiss. (Eichler’s Tulip) - Greece, Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, Iran, Central Asia

Tulipa micheliana Hoog – Central Asia to N.E. Iran, accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of May 2015,[16] but regarded as a synonym ofT. undulatifolia by others[2]

Tulipa uzbekistanica Botschantz. & Sharipov - Uzbekistan
Tulipa vvedenskyi Botschantz. - Tajikistan

Subgenus Eriostemones

Tulipa biflora Pall. (Two-flowered Tulip) - Macedonia, Egypt, Crimea, Russia, Asia from Saudi Arabia to Xinjiang + Western Siberia
Tulipa bifloriformis Vved. - Central Asia
Tulipa cinnabarina K.Perss. - Turkey
Tulipa cretica Boiss. & Heldr. (Cretan Tulip) - Crete
Tulipa dasystemon (Regel) Regel - Central Asia, Xinjiang
Tulipa humilis Herb. (Rainbow Tulip) - Caucasus, Middle East
Tulipa aucheriana Baker – E. Turkey to Afghanistan
Tulipa kurdica Wendelbo – N. Iraq
Tulipa pulchella (Regel) Baker – S. & S.E. Turkey to N. Iran
Tulipa violacea Boiss. & Buhse – S.E. Transcaucasus
Tulipa kolbintsevii Zonn. - Kazakhstan
Tulipa koyuncui Eker & Babaç - Turkey
Tulipa orithyioides Vved. - Central Asia
Tulipa orphanidea Boiss. & Heldr. (Green or Orange Wild Tulip) - Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey
Tulipa regelii Krassn. (Plicate or Regel’s Tulip) - Kazakhstan
Tulipa saxatilis Sieber ex Spreng. (Rock Tulip) - Greece, Turkey
Tulipa sprengeri Baker - Turkey
Tulipa sylvestris L. (Wild Tulip) - Eurasia from Portugal to Xinjiang
Tulipa turkestanica (Regel) Regel - Central Asia, Xinjiang
Tulipa urumiensis Stapf (Tarda Tulip) - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran

Unplaced

The horned tulip is often offered in the trade as "Tulipa acuminata", but is in fact a cultivar, unknown from the wild, and should be distributed under its correct cultivar name: Tulipa 'Cornuta'.[2]
Tulipa boettgeri Regel – Central Asia; accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as of May 2015,[16] but regarded as unplaced by Christenhusz et al.[2