Back to photostream

Sheltering. Tulipa ulophylla, Wendelbo's Tulip, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In 1950 Per Erland Berg Wendelbo (1927-1981) was part of a naturalist expedition headed by a favorite philosopher of mine from Norway, Arne Dekke Eide Næss (1912-2009). Næss was a great environmentalist, the moving force of 'deep ecology'. Wendelbo went on to become an expert in the botany of Central Asia. In the Hyrcanian Forests of the Elburz Mountains north of Tehran, Iran, he found this wonderful earth-hugging Tulip. He described it in 1967.

The 'sheltering' of my title refers to the relatively short stems of our Tulip, which has to vie with strong winds in high often inaccessible places. There's a marvellous photo of it by Marijn van den Brink: tulipsinthewild.com/pages/page25.html. It grows in Low Country, though, in our Hortus.

495 views
18 faves
7 comments
Uploaded on April 6, 2025
Taken on April 6, 2025