Tulipa tarda Stapf

Tulipa tarda Stapf, Bot. Mag. 156: t. 9321 (1933). Fig. 40 Type. Cultivated • Bulbs sent to Firma Van Tubergen, originally from Iran (Urmia) in 1928. A preserved flower from the Van Tubergen garden and associated original illustration are labeled as presented by the Editor of the Botanical Magazine to the Kew Herbarium (K). General distribution. Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat. Trans-Ili Kungey Alatau. This species grows on stony-gravelly and rocky slopes, steppe areas and thickets of shrubs in the lower mountain belt. Conservation status. The IUCN conservation status of this species has not yet been assessed. It is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category II). Phenology. Flowering in April – May; fruiting June. Notes. Christenhusz et al. (2013) formally synonymized T. tarda into a taxon with the older name T. urumiensis Stapf when revising the genus. However, the name T. tarda has become entrenched in literature, horticultural trade, and conservation assessments, leading to nomenclatural destabilization and confusion. For these reasons, it has been suggested that the name T. urumiensis should be rejected so that T. tarda becomes the correct name for this species (Christenhusz and Wilson 2022). Tulipa tarda is endemic in northern Tien-Shan and grows in the western part of the Zailiyskiy Alatau ridge and adjacent regions of northern Kyrgyzstan, i. e., the valley of the Chu and Chon-Kemin rivers with the adjacent northern slopes of the Kyrgyz ridge and Kungey Alatau (Tolenova et al. 2021).