Tulipa toktogulica, the story of a new tulip species

In 2019, in the pasturelands near Toktogul reservoir in western Kyrgyzstan the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon. Light became a murky orange-yellow and the landscape came alive with long shadows. It was here where we were standing after a long drive over the mountains that we came across a little yellow tulip. …

A code red for Humanity… but the impacts of climate change also threaten the future of wild tulips

Wild tulips are threatened by many localised activities such as livestock overgrazing, mining, urbanisation, and opportunistic collection of flowers and bulbs. These are currently damaging specific populations and causing numbers of individuals to decline. Yet what if there was a threat that occurred across the whole distribution of tulips? What if there was something that …

Welcome to the Balkans!

Tulips can be found growing in many of the temperate mountainous areas of Eurasia. As we know from previous work, Central Asia is the most species-diverse region, yet many tulips are found in Iran, Turkey and the Caucasus as well. Nonetheless, there is another corner of the world that has several exciting and recently described …

Pandemic or no pandemic: The tulips will grow

As we enter the days of late autumnal sun, and lockdown drags on here in the U.K. and in many countries around the world, the tulip season creeps up on us once again. Although many things in the future remain uncertain, including whether our fieldwork will take place in the spring of next year, one …

Tulips in a Pandemic

As we, as a global community, continue to fight against Covid-19, I thought it might provide some comfort to know that out there, tulips have once again sprouted and flowered. Moreover, that our work to protect these elegant plants is continuing in earnest. So here I am writing a short blog to update you all …