Tulipa kaufmanniana, the water lily tulip, is a species of tulip native to Central Asia. Description The tulip has a short stem, long, making it a dwarf tulip. It has lance shaped leaves which may be plain green, or blue-green. They also often have purple markings on their leaves. It is one of the earliest tulips to bloom, between February to April. The funnel-shaped flower, has six pointy petals that open out like a star similar to water lilies do, hence the common name. They open very wide on sunny days. They usually have outermost petals with a different colour than interior petals. The long upright petals often have a flushed orange-red, red or purple flush on the back of the petal. Inside the petal, there maybe a butter-yellow, or yellow blotch and sometimes with further red markings. There are also red, orange, pink and clear yellow forms too. After it has flowered it will form seeds. Taxonomy It is commonly known as the 'Water-lily Tulip'. because the petals of the flower open out like a star or waterlily. The Latin specific epithet kaufmanniana refers to Konstantin von Kaufman (1818-1882) who was the first Governor-General of Russian Turkestan where the tulip was found. It was first found in Turkestan, and then published and described by Eduard August von Regel in his botanical magazine 'Gartenflora' Vol.26 on page 194 in 1877. It was also published by Regel in Act. Hort. Petrop. Vol.5. on page 265 in 1877. Distribution and habitat Tulipa kaufmanniana is native to temperate areas of Central Asia. It has naturalised between southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the west to northeast of China. Range It is found in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and in Kazakhstan. As well as found on the mountains of Tien-Shan, the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains. Habitat T. kaufmanniana grows in the wild on stony hillsides, and steppes. Cultivation They are suitable to be grown in the rock garden, bed and borders. It is suitable for growing in USDA Growing Zones: 3 to 8, in full sun and soils with medium moisture retention or well-drained soils. Seed germination of the tulip has been studied, and it was concluded that stratification for 7 weeks was more effective treatment on studied traits than 5 weeks. Moreover, cold stratification was a better treatment on breaking seed dormancy of the seeds. Cultivars They and their