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Liliaceae FAMILY

Tulipa sylvestris

Tulipa sylvestris

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

The bulb and the flowers have been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people, though up to 5 bulbs a day can be eaten without ill-effect[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Easily grown in a well-drained soil[2]. It can be naturalized in short grass[2]. The plant is often found growing in chalk pits in the wild and so should do well on alkaline soils[3]. The plant can increase quite rapidly by means of underground stolons and can be difficult to eradicate[3]. Bulbs can be harvested after the plants have died down in July, stored in a cool dry place and then replanted in October[4]. The flowers have a most pronounced perfume[3]. This species is in cultivation in Britain under the name 'Tabriz'[2].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a shady part of the cold frame as soon as it is ripe in early summer[4], or in the early autumn[5]. A spring sowing of stored seed in the greenhouse also succeeds[PFAF]. Sow the seed thinly so that the seedlings can be grown on without disturbance for their first growing season - apply liquid feeds to the pot if necessary. Divide the bulbs once the plants have become dormant, putting 3 - 4 bulbs in each pot. Grow the on in the greenhouse for at least the next year, planting them out when dormant. Division of offsets in July. Larger bulbs can be planted out straight into their permanent positions, or can be stored in a cool place and then be planted out in late autumn. It is best to pot up smaller bulbs and grow them on in a cold frame for a year before planting them out when they are dormant in late summer to the middle of autumn. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tulipa+sylvestris>

Pollinators

Insects, Self

References

  1. [1]A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. — Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. · Wolfe · 1984 · ISBN 0723408394 ↩︎Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
  2. [2]Bulbs — Phillips. R. and Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1989 · ISBN 0-330-30253-1 ↩︎Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.
  3. [3]Scented Flora of the World. — Genders. R. · Robert Hale. London. · 1994 · ISBN 0-7090-5440-8 ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
  4. [4]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  5. [5]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  6. [6]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  7. [7]Flora Europaea — ? · Cambridge University Press · 1964 · ISBN - ↩︎An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for Europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.
  8. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎