Tulipa albanica

Albanian tulip
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Liliaceae
Genus:	Tulipa
Species:	T. albanica
Binomial name
Tulipa albanica Kit Tan & Shuka

Tulipa albanica is a flowering plant in the tulip genus, family Liliaceae that is native to Albania. It was discovered near the village of Surroj in Albania in 2010.

Related species include Tulipa scardica and Tulipa schrenkii. T. albanica bears morphological similarities to both species, as well as growing in a similar environment, but can be distinguished genetically as well as by T. albanica's undulating leaf shape.

Description

T. albanica is a bulbous perennial reaching 15–40 cm (6–16 in) in height. The bulb is ovoid to ovoid-globose and 1.5 to 2.5 cm (5⁄8 to 1 in) in diameter. The stem is erect, glabrous, glaucous to greyish-green and the leaves, which vary from 3–5, reach a size of about 10–25 cm (4–10 in) long by 1–3.5 cm (3⁄8–1+3⁄8 in), and are glaucous to greyish-green. They grow alternately along the stem and the lowermost ones have strongly undulated edges.

The stem bears a solitary large, erect, campanulate flower. It can be found in two colour: yellow to golden-yellow or carmine-scarlet to deep reddish-brown. The chromosome number is 2n = 2x = 24.

References

Bibliography

• Shuka, Lulëzim; Tan, Kit; Siljak-Yakovlev, Sonja (2010). "Tulipa albanica (Liliaceae), a new species from northeastern Albania" (PDF). Phytotaxa. 10: 17–25. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wheeler, Quentin (6 Aug 2011). "New to Nature No 49: Tulipa albanica". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Christenhusz, M.J.M.; Govaerts, R.; David, J.C.; Hall, T.; Borland, K.; Roberts, P.S.; Tuomisto, A.; Buerki, S.; Chase, M.W.; Fay, M.F. (2013). "Tiptoe through the tulips - cultural history, molecular phylogenetics and classification of Tulipa (Liliaceae)". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 172: 280–328. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)