Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb.

Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb., Icon. Pl. [Ledebour] 1: 21, t. 85 (1829). Fig. 21 Type. Kazakhstan • ‘ Bukhtarminsk et Mont Kurtschum’, Ledebour (holotype LE). General distribution. China (Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, and Russia (Altai) (POWO 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Altai, Tarbagatai, and Zaysan. This species grows on steppes and semi-deserts on stony and rubbly slopes. Conservation status. Tulipa heteropetala is a least concern species at the global level (IUCN 2024). It is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category II). Phenology. Flowering in April – May; fruiting in June – July. Notes. Tulipa heteropetala was described by C. F. Ledebour in 1829 using herbarium material from the vicinity of Bukhtarma (East Kazakhstan). This species is morphologically similar to T. uniflora but different by its strong spreading, deviated leaves, very sharp tepals, and expanded stamen filaments below the middle (Vvedensky 1935). Some authors (Mordak 1990, 1992; Cherepanov 1995) consider T. heteropetala a synonym of T. uniflora. However, most authors consider it an independent species (Vvedensky 1935; Abdulina 1999; Zonneveld 2009; Christenhusz et al. 2013; Everett et al. 2013; Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). According to recent morphological analyses of Tulipa species of the subgenus Orithyia, T. heteropetala does not grow in South Siberia, and the previously reported tulips in this region, under the name T. heteropetala are large individuals of T. uniflora (Chernysheva et al. 2023).