Description
The original parent stock from which these seedlings were raised are vegetative offsets which came originally from the late Vladimir Vasak as “Tulipa orientalis var urumoffii” which Vladimir found in Bulgaria, distr. Pernik, Konjavska Planina, at 600-900 m. Vegetatively this original stock is incredibly slow to increase.
When raised from closed-pollinated seed (hand-pollinated) most offspring are typical and bright yellow, however some of the seedlings (not all) show shades of red and pink in the flowers. These tones are absent from the parents other than as a tiny point of red on the external surface of the tips of the outer three petals.
In just a very few plants, black anthers replace what we think of as “the usual” yellow ones, however if you look at the literature and even photographs online, then this phenomenon is also part of the accepted natural variation within the species. They are all the true species, it is simply that, as in humans, the true species includes many, widely variable features (think blonde, redhead, brunette…).
The offspring also tend to be around 10cm taller than the parents, though this varies of course and they still remain delightfully slender with small, delicate flowers. There is virtually no other variation displayed in the progeny and as this is such a rare Tulipa very little is known about its natural variation anyway.
