Early blooming tulips like these will paint a rainbow of much
appreciated color onto gray early spring landscapes - when it's
needed most! Click to download a large version (800x600) of this
image. There are some 120 species of wild tulips and more than
2300 extant named varieties of garden tulips. All tulips are
hardy bulbous perennial herbs with mostly basal, straplike
leaves. The flowers are usually cup or bowl shaped and usually
have six tepals. However, there are tulips with star shaped
flowers, double flowers, and tulips with tepals that are
reflexed, elongated, or fringed. Most tulips produce a single
flower on a central stem, but some species bear multiple
flowers. Most tulips bloom in the spring. Tulips have been
developed in nearly every color except true blue. Irregular
stripes, streaks or speckles in tulip blossoms are called
"broken" colors and are the result of a virus infection. Tulips
with broken colors are often very attractive, and were formerly
very valuable, but nowadays are hard to find.