Schrenck's Tulip

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Schrenck's tulip is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Tulip of the Liliaceae family. In Latin, its name will sound like this: Tulipa suaveolens, Tulipa schrenkii. For the first time, this type of tulip was discovered in the Tyumen region in the vicinity of the city of Ishim. Named after Alexander Gustavovich von Schrenck, Candidate of Philosophy, Traveler and Associate Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Tartu. The species was described in 1873 by Eduard Ludwigovich Regel, doctor of philosophy, botanist and gardener.

Area

In the wild, Schrenck's Tulip chooses plains, lowlands, foothills. It grows mainly on calcareous soils, in places rich in calcium. The habitat of the considered plant species is the south, south-east of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, north and north-east of Kazakhstan, China, Iran. The Schrenck tulip was listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation in 1988 as an endangered species; it is strictly forbidden to collect plants and dig up bulbs.

Characteristics of culture

Schrenck's tulip is a flowering bulbous plant about 40 centimeters tall. The bulb is small, not more than 3 centimeters in diameter, has an oval shape, completely covered with leathery, hard scales of dark brown or black color. At the base of the leafless, dark green peduncle with red veins, there are 3 to 4 different-sized long lanceolate leaves with a slightly corrugated edging.

The inflorescence is goblet or lily-shaped, about 8 centimeters high and 5 centimeters in diameter. The color depends on the variety and climatic conditions of growth of the given flower crop, it ranges from pure white to dark purple, including yellow and red tones. At the base, the petals are colored in a dark brown or light yellow shade, but sometimes individuals without a bottom spot characteristic of tulips are found.

In the center of the inflorescence is a bunch of filamentous anthers and yellow or dark purple stamens. The fruit is an elongated tricuspid box with seeds, there are about 250 of them. At the end of April, the Schrenck tulip enters the active flowering phase and this period lasts for about a month.

Reproduction

In the wild, like in gardening, this type of tulip reproduces only by seed, because the mother bulb, after passing through the growing season, forms only one baby, and itself dies off. In the natural habitat, insects carry seeds over long distances, and a fruiting capsule, located at the top of the peduncle, sways in the wind and scatters seeds to the nearest ones.

If you want to grow a Schrenck tulip in a garden plot, you need to take into account that the first flowering will begin 7 to 8 years after planting, in the first years of life the plant develops slowly. During the first year after planting seeds in open ground, a bulb begins to form, initially it looks like a small bud on a short stalk. By the end of the summer season, the bulb will begin to deepen and go underground by 3-4 centimeters, one leaf will remain above the ground, which will replace the foliage characteristic of tulips next year.

In the next few years, there is a period of deepening and rooting of the bulbs, the plant accumulates useful substances, develops foliage and prepares for the vegetative period. At 4 - 5 years after planting, Schrenck's tulip acquires permanent foliage, after which the formation of a peduncle begins. In order to bring the flowering period closer, the plant must be watered abundantly; if favorable conditions for growth are created, it can begin 6 years after planting. The total lifespan of each individual Schrenck tulip is from 40 to 55 years.