IRG 46 - October 2013

[Maggi Young]

It seems that  some interest has been sparked by mention of Tulipa  sprengeri - sadly there does not seem to be a great deal of information about its natural history or habitat, save for repeated assertions that it was found but once in the wild* and not again since!
There is this - http://e-monocot.org/taxon/urn:kew.org:wcs:taxon:289995;jsessionid=0F1345B1FAC876FCFD89328133380E02.kppapp02 - suggesting a former widespread distribution in Turkey, with a habitat of temperate mixed forest - not exactly copius information.

T. bracyanthera  is a synonym of T. sprengeriand so this may be of interest :
Bibliography  for Tulipa brachyanthera
1 Christenhusz, M.J.M., Govaerts, R., David, J.C., Hall, T., Borland, K., Roberts, P.S., Tuomisto, A., Buerki, S., Chase, M.W. & Fay, M.F. (2013). Tiptoe through the tulips - cultural history, molecular phylogenetics and classification of Tulipa (Liliaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 172: 280-328.
2 Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1984). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 8: 1-632. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
3 Freyn, J.F. Original description of Tulipa brachyanthera. 4, (1904).

*said to have been near Amasya in N.W. Turkey but no further records since 1896.

It would be interesting to hear any other information on  the history of this bulb.

[Maggi Young]

Ruby Baker has noted elsewhere : "Carl L.Sprenger, 1846-1917, was a German nurseryman at Vomero, near Naples. T.sprengeri was first described by J.G.Baker, Kew, in the Gardeners' Chronicle 1894 and was said to have been sent to the nursery firm of Dammann in Naples by one Muhlendorff, a German botanist living in the Amasya area. In pursuit of further information Anna Pavord's superb monograph "The Tulip" produced the link -  Dammann  & Cie  in Naples was actually owned by the aforementioned Carl Sprenger."

[Gerry Webster]

Maggi - There's a bit more information in Martyn Rix's  Growing Bulbs (p111). He claims that T. sprengeri was sent to Van Tubergen by J. J. Manissadjian (one of their regular collectors).  Rix presumes he also sent it to 'Damman & Sprenger'  who listed it as new in 1895. Their catalogue of 1891 sounds amazing & includes  61 crocus, 59 tulips & 53 frits among other bulbs.

[Maggi Young]

Thanks, Gerry.

I am particularly interested in the features of the area where it was said to originate to see what the lie of the land might be.



Seems that the highest areas in the region are 1174m and 1300m with most parts between 500m and 1000m
Still looking for some idea of the  habitat - lots to be found about ancient sites, caves etc but not much about the hills themselves!
Are there any travellers out there who are familiar with the area?  The north facing wooded slopes are the most likely place for such a plant .... wouldn't it be marvelous to find it again?

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I don't know if this is of any help, Maggi, but in "Tulips" by Richard Wilford from Kew Gardens, the author mentions the following on this subject :
"Tulipa sprengeri was collected in the 1890s in the area around Amasia in northern Turkey and introduced by Damman and Company of Naples, Italy in 1894. J. Gilgert Baker described the species that year in the Gardeners' Chronicle, noting the plant's close resemblance to T. hageri.  Baker named the new species after Carl Sprenger of Damman and Company.  It was soon available vor sale and grown in various gardens.  It is likely that more than one collection was made around this time, but since the start of the First World War no new material has been introduced and T. sprengeri was presumed extinct in the wild.  Howevere, there are reprts that it has recently been rediscovered growing wild in Turkey"
This is only an extract from a 2 pages entry on Tulipa Sprengeri, but no further information on the area where it was found.