Tulip (Botanical)

A Long Time Ago, You Could Only Find Them On The Slopes Of Remote Mountain Ranges In Asia, But Today They Are The Very Symbol Of Modern Genetics, A Species Unrivalled For The Variety Of Colors And Forms That Breeders Can Create: Tulips. In This Book, Celia Fisher Traces The Story Of This Important And Highly Popular Plant, From Its Mountain Beginnings To Its Prevalence In The Gardens Of Mughal, Persian, And Ottoman Potentates; From Its Migration Across The Silk Road To Its Explosive Cultivation In The Modern European World. Fisher Looks At How Tulips' Intensely Saturated Color Has Made Them An Important Species For Botanists And Gardeners. Initially Rare In Sixteenth Century Netherlands, Tulips Sparked Such Frenzy Among Aristocratic Collectors That They Caused The First Economic Bubble And Collapse. Exploring The Ways Cultivators Have Created One Hybrid After Another--in An Astonishing Range Of Colors And Shapes--fisher Also Shows How Tulips Have Inspired Art And Literature Throughout The Centuries, From Ottoman Turkey To The Paintings Of The Dutch Masters, From Alexandre Dumas's Novel The Black Tulip To Contemporary Artist David Cheung Painting Them Atop Pages Of The Financial Times. Stunningly Illustrated, This Book Offers A Unique Cultural History Of One Of Our Most Important Flowers. Wild Tulips -- Turkish Tulips -- First Footings -- Tulipomania -- The Artist's Tulip -- A Mirror Of The Nations -- Botanists And Florists -- Plant Hunters And Nurserymen. Celia Fisher. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 203-209) And Index. Wild tulips originally grew across Asia, often on the slopes of remote mountain ranges; the malleable genes of these progenitors gave rise to tulips unrivalled variety of colour and form. In Tulip, Celia Fisher traces the story of this important and highly popular plant, from its mountain beginnings to its cultivation in the gardens of Mughal, Persian and Ottoman potentates, and its migration from East to West along the silk trading routes.Cultivated oriental hybrids reached European gardens in the sixteenth century, and their unique, intensely saturated petal colour, combined with their rarity, meant that they rapidly became a coveted luxury item in the Netherlands. Tulips in fact inspired such a frenzy among aristocratic collectors that they caused the first economic bubble, which peaked in 1637 and became known as tulipomania.The book explores the art and literature that tulips have inspired through history, from Dutch Masters, to Alexandre Dumas novel The Black Tulip, to the contemporary artist Gordon Cheung setting exotically streaked tulips alongside the Financial Times. Fisher also describes the tulips botanical characteristics, as well as the main, and most intriguing, species (which are still being counted, and well over a hundred have been named). Tulips may yet have the last laugh, however, because recent genetic studies have raised questions about their origins and classification.Tulip is a stunningly illustrated botanical and cultural history of the much-loved bloom, and will appeal to all who admire and grow this beautiful flower. In Tulip, Celia Fisher traces the story of this important and highly popular plant, from its mountain beginnings to its cultivation in the gardens of Mughul, Persian and Ottoman potentates, and its migration from East to West along the silk trading routes.