The first tulips I grew as a child were red Parrot Tulips, which had enormous, brightly coloured flowers with twisted, wavy petals. A kind description of these showy tulips is ‘extremely flamboyant‘, though to the less charitable they could be considered ‘a bit vulgar‘.

I still grow tulips but my favourite at the moment  *, which I only discovered this spring, is the Wild Tulip or Woodland Tulip, Tulipa sylvestris. This grows from six to 15 inches (15 – 38 millimetres) tall and has bold, clear yellow flowers.

* I reserve the right to find another favourite tulip at some time in the future.

It is lovely and elegant in bud:

Tulipa sylvestris – in bud

Then it explodes into colour:

Tulipa sylvestris – in full flower

Tulipa sylvestris can be found growing wild in various locations in the lowlands of Britain, where its habitats include open woodlands, orchards, hedgerows, riversides, chalk pits, grassy banks and waste ground. I have never seen it growing in the wild, but have a single plant in the raised bed in our back garden, which I bought from Natural Surroundings in North Norfolk earlier this year. Tulipa sylvestris enjoys growing in a sunny spot and can be naturalised in grass. It is a perennial and has a bulb beneath the ground, to which it will die back after flowering. It is very drought tolerant once established.

Tulipa sylvestris is thought to be originally from Mediterranean Europe but it can now be found in parts of Asia and North Africa as well as Europe. It is hardy in our climate and it was being cultivated in Britain by 1596 and was recorded from the wild by 1790. It was widely naturalised by the late 18th and 19th centuries but has since declined, though populations can persist even if the plants don’t flower [reference].

The Plants For A Future website warns that the bulb and the flowers have been known to cause dermatitis in sensitive people – florists in particular can develop a rash known as “tulip fingers” or “tulip finger disease“. 

Tulips are edible – with caution. Plants For A Future says up to five Tulipa sylvestris bulbs a day can be eaten without ill-effect. I have not tried eating tulips, though they have been eaten in times of famine, in particular in The Netherlands in 1944 – 1945. The excellent Eat The Weeds website provides more details of tulips’ edibility. In particular, the skin and the centre of the bulbs should be avoided and most types should be cooked. The petals are edible, though the flavour varies and the ends of the petals can be bitter.

The name ‘tulip’ comes from tulband, Turkish for a Persian turban, which the flowers were thought to resemble. Alternative names that never caught on included ‘lillynarcissus’ and ‘Dalmatian cap’.