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Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. They are native to southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran (where the flower is suggested on the nations flag) east to northeast China and Japan. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan. They are perennial bulbous plants growing to 10–70 centimetres (4–27 in) tall, with a small number of strap-shaped, waxy-textured, usually glaucous green leaves and large flowers with six tepals. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous flat disc-shaped seeds.
The tulip is the national flower of Iran and Turkey, and tulip motifs feature prominently in Persian and Turkish folk arts. The European name for the flower comes from the Persian word for turban, a origin probably originating in the common Turkish custom of wearing flowers in the folds of the turban. Alternatively, the use may have arisen because this eastern flower, when not yet in full bloom, resembles a turban.
Unofficially, the flower is also emblematic of the Netherlands. For instance, in an annual gesture of gratitude to Canada for liberating the nation from Nazi German tyranny in World War II and for serving as a refuge for the Crown Princess (subsequently Queen Juliana), a supply of tulips is sent to be planted in Canada's national capital in Ottawa. In both the Ottoman Empire and Netherlands, separate episodes of tulip mania struck both countries which both led to damaging speculation crashes which also contributed to the Ottoman Empires economic decline. Numerous cultivars have been bred for garden use. It is often considered one of humanity's canonical flowers, along with the rose, lily, orchid, and peony (Pollan, M). Tulips are also renowned in Spalding, UK - an area now known as South Holland, due to its drained fens similar to Holland, plus it is easily the main centre of the UK bulb industry. To reflect this, the local radio station is named Tulip Radio .
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