Tulipa alberti Regel

Tulipa alberti Regel, Gartenflora 26: 257, t 912 (1877). Fig. 6 Type. Kazakhstan • Illustration t. 912 in Gartenflora 26 (1877) [lectotype designated by Christenhusz et al. 2013: 303]. General distribution. Endemic to Kazakhstan (Kubentayev et al. 2024). Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Balkhash-Alakol, Betpak-Dala, Chu-Ili Range, Dzungarian Alatau, Eastern Upland, Karatau, Moinkym, Trans-Ili Kungey Alatau, and Western Upland. Grows on dry rubbly and stony slopes of low mountains. Conservation status. Tulipa alberti is assessed near threatened at the global level (IUCN 2024) and is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category II). Phenology. Flowering in April – May; fruiting in May – June. Notes. Eduard Regel described T. alberti in 1877, based on materials collected by his son Albert Regel, who worked as a doctor in Kulja, from the Karatau Mountains in 1876 (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). The locus classicus of this species in the Chirchik River Valley was incorrectly stated when describing T. alberti (Vvedensky and Kovalevskaya 1971). More recently, Sutula et al. (2024) reported the hybridization of T. alberti and T. patens and the possible existence of a new undescribed species of hybridogenic origin. However, given that these species are morphologically different and belong to different subgenera, we believe that hybridization between these taxa is highly unlikely. Moreover, the distribution ranges of the species do not overlap, excluding the possibility of spontaneous hybridization in nature. Meanwhile, spontaneous hybrids of T. alberti and T. greigii exist in the wild (Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019; Vvedensky and Kovalevskaya 1971). Recently, Yermagambetova et al. (2024) studied the genetic diversity and gene flow of T. alberti in Kazakhstan. In this work, the more isolated populations were determined to be genetically distinct with low genetic diversity (Yermagambetova et al. 2024).