Tulipa borszczowii Regel

Tulipa borszczowii Regel, Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 41: 438 (1868). Fig. 13 Type. Kazakhstan • Steppe Kara-Kum am Aralsee, Borszczow 677 (holotype LE!; photograph K). General distribution. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan (POWO 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Aral region, Betpak-Dala, Kyzylkum, Kyzylorda, Moiynkum, and Turkestan. This species grows in sandy and clay-sandy deserts. Conservation status. Tulipa borszczowii is a near threatened 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 May – June. Notes. Tulipa borszczowii was described by E. L. Regel in 1868 from the collections of Russian botanist I. G. Borshchow from Aral Karakum. The species is morphologically similar to T. lehmanniana, differing in its flower stalk that does not droop in buds, leaves exceeding or reaching the flower, and a shorter above-ground stem part that is 1.5–2 times shorter than the underground part (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). This species was considered endemic to Kazakhstan until 2002, when it was found in Uzbekistan (from the western part of the Hungry Steppe) (TASH), and elsewhere in the Uzbek part of Kyzylkum (Abduraimov et al. 2020). The southernmost limit of its total range is in Uzbekistan, the northernmost limit is in the northern Aral region, and the range reaches the Transkaratau foothill plain in the east (Kyzylkol and Akkol lakes).