Tulipa turkestanica Regel

Tulipa turkestanica (Regel) Regel, Trudy Imp. S. Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 3: 296 (1875). Fig. 43 Type. Uzbekistan • ‘ Chiwa’, Korolkow & Krause (COI-00050870) [lectotype designated by Christenhusz et al. 2013: 325]. General distribution. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and China (Xinjiang) (POWO 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Western Tian Shan, Karatau. This species grows in clayey and gravelly slopes from the foothills to the alpine zone (800–3000 m a. s. l.). Conservation status. Tulipa turkestanica is a least concern species at the global level (IUCN 2024). Phenology. Flowering in March – June; fruiting June – July. Notes. Eduard Ludvigovich Regel originally described T. turkestanica as Tulipa sylvestris var. turkestanica Regel in 1873, but later reclassified it as an independent species in 1875 (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). Morphologically, this species is similar to T. bifloriformis, which differs by its erect buds and woolly pubescence at the top of the bulb scales (Vvedensky 1935). Transitional forms close to T. bifloriformis and T. orthopoda occur in nature (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019), making identifying these taxa difficult. These forms have been poorly studied and require additional research. The range of T. turkestanica might be restricted to Pamir-Alai, and this species might have been replaced by T. bifloriformis in Kazakhstan. However, this hypothesis requires further confirmation.