Kazakhstan hosts 36 species of wild tulips. In Mashat Canyon, 45 km northeast from Shymkent, grows one of them: the lemmers tulip.
The lemmers tulip (Tulipa lemmersii) flowers in spring, late March – early April. It’s a small-size tulip (7 cm) with a small bulging flower (3 cm). Its petals are yellow, slightly tinged with red on the outside. It has 3 leaves about 15 cm long.
The lemmers tulip was officially discovered very recently, in 2009.
This tulip is endemic to this region of Kazakhstan: it grows only in the rocky mountains of western Tien-Shan and in the Mashat gorge.
The limited distribution area of the tulip lemmersii makes it very vulnerable: do not pick it!
Information source: Tulips of Kazakhstan. – Almaty: LTD « Almatykitap baspasy », 2010, 272 p., illustrated.
Photo: Gaëlle Bal
On the same topic: Mashat Canyon