Taxonomy of Tulipa

Tricyrtis Streptopus Prosartes Scoliopus Calochortus Clintonia Medeola Tulipa Amana Erythronium Gagea (Lloydia) Notholirion Cardiocrinum Lilium (Nomocharis) Fritillaria Historically, subdivision of the genus and speciation (separation of species) has been based on vegetative and floral characters, but further research has shown these to be quite plastic, even within a species.

[1] That study did not find support for any of the previous sections proposed, and since hybridisation is relatively common, it is probably better to refrain from subdividing the subgenera any further.

For instance tulips often grow in remote inaccessible hills and valleys where winters are harsh and summers long and dry, and may flower for only a short period, meaning that species are often missed.

Furthermore, descriptions of species were often derived from studying cultivated bulbs, and the variability of the wild population was poorly understood.

[21] 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.