Tulip Fever

The History of The Tulip

First introduced to Holland in 1593, the tulip has become a symbol for the country, alongside windmills and wooden shoes. Usually in that order.

Situated in Northern Europe, bounded by Germany to the East and Belgium to the South, nearly half of Holland’s 47,150 acres of flower bulb farms are planted with tulip bulbs. Every year about three billion tulip bulbs are produced in Holland. Of these, approximately two billion are exported. The vast majority of them are used for “forcing” of cut flowers and potted plants. The major export market is the United States, followed closely by Japan and Germany. Nearly one billion bulbs go to the USA, mostly to home gardeners.
Where do Tulips Come From? A potted history.

For the origins of the tulip, look to central Asia. In particular the Tien-Shan and Pamir Alai Mountain Ranges near modern day Islamabad, from where they spread to China and Mongolia, and Azerbaijan and Armenia (Transcaucasia), where they spread to locations including far-flung parts of Europe.

Many people, even in the Netherlands, still say that tulips originally came from Turkey. This is only partly true. A significant percentage of the tulips cultivated in the Netherlands originated from areas now considered part of Russia, around the Black Sea, in the Crimea, and from the steppes located north of the Caucasus. In the 1500s when tulips were first introduced into Europe, these areas belonged to the great Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Empire. The Turks were cultivating tulips as early as 1,000 AD. Before tulips ever reached Europe, they had enjoyed a long and rich cultural history in Persia.
Why is it called “Tulip”?

The most obvious explanation is its resemblance to the headgear worn by many people in the Middle East, the turban or toliban. Translated into Latin as tulipa.

The famous flamed (virused) tulips now known as “Rembrandt tulips” were not a favored subject of the painter. He seldom painted flowers. The name of Rembrandt was applied for its historical significance. Tulipomania occurred during the first half of the seventeenth century, when artists including Rembrandt, Frans Halls, Breughel, and others were most active.
Dutch tulip history traditionally begins in 1593 with Carolus Clusius. Previously renowned for his work in Prague and Vienna with medicinal herbs, Clusius came to Leiden in Holland to become head botanist of the new botanical garden or “hortus” at the University of Leiden. He planted the first known tulips in Holland, assisted by Cluyt, a skilled botanist and pharmacist in the old town of Delft. Cluyt was also a famous bee-keeper, and one of the first Dutchmen to publish a book about bee-keeping. His book took the form of a morning dialogue with Clusius and was entitled “God Feeds All Creatures”.
Where is home?

Today tulips can still be found growing wild in regions of the Balkans, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland and France. There are probably no more than one hundred and fifty wild tulip species native to Europe. But that number depends largely on how one defines “wild species”. One of these tulips, Tulipa celsiana, is found wild in southern France in the region around Toulon and Cannes. This miniature tulip grows between the rocks, under extremely dry conditions. It is visible only for a short growth and flowering period in the early spring. Flowering is quickly followed by withering, and the plant then survives as a small bulb through the summer and winter.

The advance of the tulip in nature never got as far as the Netherlands, not even within 500 miles. The tulip’s natural habitat is mountainous terrain. They are found growing at very high elevations, often covered by a thick layer of snow during the winter period. This offers them good protection from the severe cold. In quite a few of these species the inner side of the skin that covers the bulb is covered in a thick hairy layer that provides extra protection. Not surprisingly these are often called “wooly tulips.” Given this natural proclivity for high places, it is all the more remarkable that the Dutch should become known for growing tulips. Holland is largely situated below sea-level and “enjoys” winters that are more wet than cold.