Tulip
Tulip, common name for any member of a genus of spring-flowering, bulbous herbs, of the lily family. About 80 species of tulip exist; these plants are native to Asia and the Mediterranean region, and thousands of varieties are widely cultivated as garden flowers. Tulips are erect plants with long, broad, parallel-veined leaves and cup-shaped, solitary flowers borne at the tip of the stem. The flowers are either single or double and occur in a wide range of solid colors. Some, called broken tulips, are varicolored as a result of a viral disease carried and transferred to the plants by aphids. The garden tulip was introduced into western Europe from Constantinople (present-day İstanbul) in the 16th century and soon achieved great popularity. Interest in tulip growing mounted, especially in Holland, where it developed by 1634 into a craze called tulipomania. Wild speculation in tulip stock ensued, and enormous prices were paid for single bulbs. After many people had gone bankrupt, the cr...