Lowly Red. Desert Tulip, Tulipa systola, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jakob Eduard Polak (1818-1891), scion of a Jewish Bohemian family, can be called the father of 'western' medicine in Persia (now Iran). In 1851 he joined the newly founded Dâr ul-funun - the polytechnic college in Tehran - to teach would-be doctors. But Polak was far more than a medical man. His interests ranged from anthropology and linguistics to botany and zoology, and he was instrumental in opening up Persia to European culture and vice versa. He was a gifted linguist and learned Persian in a mere six months and was then proficient enough to teach in it! Together with Thomas Pichler (1824-1914) he undertook a botanical expedition (1882) in 'Karaghan' (Kharraqan Mountains of northern Iran). There they found this Lowly Red Tulip which hugs the ground to shield itself against the cold winds. In Amsterdam it's just raised its head in one of the Hortus's tubs. Polak and Pichler's finds were published in 1885 by botanist Otto Stapf (1857-1933), another frequenter of Persia, who after 1890 worked for the British Kew Botanical Gardens.
Lowly Red. Desert Tulip, Tulipa systola, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jakob Eduard Polak (1818-1891), scion of a Jewish Bohemian family, can be called the father of 'western' medicine in Persia (now Iran). In 1851 he joined the newly founded Dâr ul-funun - the polytechnic college in Tehran - to teach would-be doctors. But Polak was far more than a medical man. His interests ranged from anthropology and linguistics to botany and zoology, and he was instrumental in opening up Persia to European culture and vice versa. He was a gifted linguist and learned Persian in a mere six months and was then proficient enough to teach in it! Together with Thomas Pichler (1824-1914) he undertook a botanical expedition (1882) in 'Karaghan' (Kharraqan Mountains of northern Iran). There they found this Lowly Red Tulip which hugs the ground to shield itself against the cold winds. In Amsterdam it's just raised its head in one of the Hortus's tubs. Polak and Pichler's finds were published in 1885 by botanist Otto Stapf (1857-1933), another frequenter of Persia, who after 1890 worked for the British Kew Botanical Gardens.