Tulipa dubia Vved.

Tulipa dubia Vved., Byull. Sredne-Aziatsk. Gosud. Univ. 21: 148 (1935). Fig. 19 Type. Tashkent district • Chotan river gorge, slope near the confluence of Kashka-su brook into Chotan, 10 June 1909, Z. von Minkwitz (holotype LE 00053022!). General distribution. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan (POWO 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Western Tian Shan. This species grows on fine-grained and rubbly-small-grained slopes in the upper belt of the mountains. Conservation status. Tulipa dubia is an assessed near threatened species at the global level (IUCN 2024). Phenology. Flowering in April – June; fruiting in May – August (depending on the elevation). Notes. Tulipa dubia was described by A. I. Vvedensky in 1935 from herbarium material collected by Z. Minkwitz in 1909 from the Tashkent district, Chotan River gorge. Typically, T. dubia populations occur in higher altitudinal zones than T. kaufmanniana and T. tschimganica. However, all three species grow at similar elevations but occupy different habitats in the Aksay Valley (Greater Chimgan). The main characteristic distinguishing T. dubia from the other species of Tulipa sect. Spiranthera is the shape of the stamen filaments and anthers (Tojibaev et al. 2022). This species forms spontaneous hybrids with T. kaufmanniana in common habitats (Vvedensky 1935). The main range of this species is Uzbekistan with a few populations in Western Tian Shan. In addition, high genetic variability has been reported in T. greigii in Kazakhstan (Yermagambetova et al. 2024).