Tulipa regelii Krasn.

Tulipa regelii Krasn., Bot. Zap. 2: 21 (1888). Fig. 36 Type. Kazakhstan • ‘ Prope fauces fluminis Kurtu inter saxa non rara in montibus Andrakai rarior’, April 1886, A. Krassnow s. n. (LE). General distribution. Endemic to Kazakhstan (Kubentayev et al. 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Balkhash-Alakol, and Chu-Ili range. This species grows on rocky, gravelly slopes and scree (800–1100 m a. s. l.). Conservation status. Tulipa regelii is an endangered species at the global level (IUCN 2024). It is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category II). Phenology. Flowering in March – April; fruiting in May – June. Notes. Tulipa regelii was described in 1887 by the prominent Russian botanical geographer A. N. Krasnov, who surveyed the Shu-Ili Mountains (where the species was collected from the Anyrakai and Kurti tracts). The species is named in honor of E. L. Regel, the director of the botanical garden in St. Petersburg (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). It is one of the most distinctive tulips due to the leaf blade surface having many parallel ridge-like outgrowths. However, the position of this species in the genus Tulipa remains controversial. Vvedensky (1935) classified T. regelii into a separate section, T. sect. Lophophyllon Vved, due to the unique structure of its leaf blade. Meanwhile, Zonneveld (2009) placed it in the section Biflores based on its genome size and flower structure. However, Christenhusz et al. (2013) assigned T. regelii to the subgenus Eriostemones. Later, Wilson (2023) placed T. regelii in the section Sylvestres (Baker) Baker.