''Tulipa cypria'', the Cyprus tulip, is a

tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in war ...

, an erect

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs du ...

ous herb, 15–40 cm high (in blossom), with glabrous, glaucous leaves. The four leaves are alternate, simple, entire, fleshy, the two lower ones larger, laceolate, 10-20 x 2–6 cm, with conspicuously undulate margins, the two higher much smaller, nearly linear. One terminal showy flower,

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepals when ca ...

cup shaped, of six free, petaloid segments, 2.5-9 x 1-3.5 cm, with dark blood-red colour, internally with a black blotch bordered by a yellow zone. It flowers March–April. The fruit is a capsule.The Endemic Plants of Cyprus, Texts: Takis Ch. Tsintides, Photographs: Laizos Kourtellarides, Cyprus Association of Professional Foresters, Bank of Cyprus Group, Nicosia 1998,

Habitat

The Cypriot tulip grows in '' juniperus phoenicea'' maquis pastures and cereal fields, on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

at altitudes of above sea level.

Distribution

The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, on Akamas, Kormakitis and some areas of the

Pentadaktylos The Kyrenia Mountains ( el, Κερύνειο Όρος; tr, Girne Dağları) is a long, narrow mountain range that runs for approximately along the northern coast of the island of Cyprus. It is primarily made of hard crystalline limestone ...

range. It is very rare and strictly protected.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15546347 cypria Endemic flora of Cyprus Ephemeral plants Plants described in 1934