Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb.

Tulipa heteropetala Ledeb. View in CoL , Icon. Pl. [Ledebour] 1: 21, t. 85 (1829).

Fig. 21 View Figure 21

Type.

Kazakhstan • ‘ Bukhtarminsk et Mont Kurtschum’ , Ledebour ( holotype LE) .

General distribution.

China ( Xinjiang), Kazakhstan, and Russia ( Altai) ( POWO 2024).

Distribution in Kazakhstan and habitat.

Altai, Tarbagatai, and Zaysan. This species grows on steppes and semi-deserts on stony and rubbly slopes.

Conservation status.

Tulipa heteropetala is a least concern species at the global level ( IUCN 2024). It is included in the Red Book of Kazakhstan (Category II).

Phenology.

Flowering in April – May; fruiting in June – July.

Notes.

Tulipa heteropetala was described by C. F. Ledebour in 1829 using herbarium material from the vicinity of Bukhtarma ( East Kazakhstan). This species is morphologically similar to T. uniflora but different by its strong spreading, deviated leaves, very sharp tepals, and expanded stamen filaments below the middle ( Vvedensky 1935). Some authors ( Mordak 1990, 1992; Cherepanov 1995) consider T. heteropetala a synonym of T. uniflora . However, most authors consider it an independent species ( Vvedensky 1935; Abdulina 1999; Zonneveld 2009; Christenhusz et al. 2013; Everett et al. 2013; Ivashchenko and Belyalov 2019). According to recent morphological analyses of Tulipa species of the subgenus Orithyia , T. heteropetala does not grow in South Siberia, and the previously reported tulips in this region, under the name T. heteropetala are large individuals of T. uniflora ( Chernysheva et al. 2023) .