Degeneration. Tulipa 'Black and White', Rembrandt Cultivar, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hard to believe, but: yes! Those pretty multicolored, variegated Tulips are degenerating species of that flower. The first to note this (in 1576) is the eminent botanist Carolus Clusius (1516-1609). However, he didn't know the cause of that phenomenon. Today much study has been made of the so-called 'Tulip-breaking Virus' (TBV), that, once a bulb has been infected with it, gives rise to those strikingly colored flowers. One of those Viruses is named after Rembrandt, the ReTBV. The photo is of an affected flower in the Hortus Botanicus here in Amsterdam.
Degeneration. Tulipa 'Black and White', Rembrandt Cultivar, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hard to believe, but: yes! Those pretty multicolored, variegated Tulips are degenerating species of that flower. The first to note this (in 1576) is the eminent botanist Carolus Clusius (1516-1609). However, he didn't know the cause of that phenomenon. Today much study has been made of the so-called 'Tulip-breaking Virus' (TBV), that, once a bulb has been infected with it, gives rise to those strikingly colored flowers. One of those Viruses is named after Rembrandt, the ReTBV. The photo is of an affected flower in the Hortus Botanicus here in Amsterdam.