4.2. Tulipa tschimganica Botschantz. in Bot. Mater. Gerb. Inst. Bot. Zool. Akad. Nauk Uzbeksk. S.S.R. 16: 10 (1961).

Type:— UZBEKISTAN. Grown in the Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbek SSR from bulbs collected by Z.P. Botschantzeva in 1959 in the gorge in piedmonts of Greater Chimgan, on fine earth among stones, Botschantzeva 99 (holotype TASH 000526!).

Description:—Bulb ovoid, 1.5–3.5 cm thick; tunic papery, blackish-brown, the inner surface sparsely covered with long and straight, adpressed hairs, more densely at the apex and the base; stem 15–25 cm long, the upper part of stem and peduncle pubescent, covered with a glaucous ealily fading bloom; leaves 3–4, relatively approximate, falcately deflected, grooved, not curled (sometimes slightly undulate), more or less pubescent, at the early stages of flowering often exceeding the flower; basal leaf broadly lanceolate, up to 7.5 cm broad; flower solitary, cup-shaped or starshaped; perigone segments 5–7 cm long, red with a yellow basal blotch or yellow with red W-shaped blotches on the inside; outer segments narrowly to broadly lanceolate, attenuate at apex, in yellow-flowered form usually red on the back; inner segments oblong or narrowly ovate with a more or less rounded, often notched apex; stamens nearly half as long as the tepals; filaments thin, slightly dilated at the base and pointed below the anthers; anthers 2–4 times as long as the filaments, yellow with brown apex or brownish, gradually and slowly opening from apex to base, but not becoming twisted or strongly incurved; pollen yellow or brownish, ovary narrowing at the base; capsule 1.5–2.0 cm broad and up to 11 cm long, narrow conical, elongated at the top, with a long beak (up to 3.5 cm), yellow (Fig. 10B).

General distribution:—Chatkal and Karzhantau ranges (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan).

Distribution in Uzbekistan:—I-1 Western Tian-Shan district (I-1-b Western Chatkal region).

Phenology:—Flowering: April–June (at least two weeks later than T. kaufmanniana); fruiting: May–June.

Ecology:—Gravelly and stony slopes, deep valleys that are later cleared of snow, in middle mountain zone, 1400–2300 m a.s.l.

Etymology:—The species is named after Chimgan Mountains, a mountain massive located in the western spurs of Chatkal Range 80 km from Tashkent, from where this tulip has been discovered. Chimgan is a famous mountain resort and one of the most important botanical regions of Uzbekistan with rich flora and a significant number of rare and endemic species.

Note:— Botschantzeva (1962), Raamsdonk et al. (1997), Pratov et al. (2006) and Zonneveld (2009) regarded T. tschimganica as a separate species of T. sect. Spiranthera. According to Vvedensky & Kovalevskaja (1971), this species is a hybrid of T. greigii and T. kaufmanniana. Zonneveld (2009) assumed that T. tschimganica may be the result of hybridization between T. dubia and T. kaufmanniana in the wild. According to Phillips & Rix (1981) and Christenhusz et al. (2013), this taxon takes an intermediate position between T. dubia and T. kaufmanniana and can be considered as a natural hybrid. Before, at previous publications Tojibaev (2010) and Tojibaev & Beshko (2014) regarded it as T. kaufmanniana subsp. tschimganica. According to J.J. de Groot’s communication, T. tschimganica under conditions of cultivation differs with large bulbs, notable bigger than bulbs of T. kaufmanniana and T. dubia.

Specimens examined:— UZBEKISTAN: Western Tian-Shan, Western Chatkal region, Chatkal Range (grown in the Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences of UzbekSSR from bulbs collected by Z.P. Botschantzeva in 1959, from the valley in piedmonts of Mt. Greater Chimgan, 1959, Botschantzev 99 (TASH!); Chatkal Biosphere Reserve, Bashkyzylsay plot, Petrasay, near stream, 22 June 2001, Mukhamedzhanova, Lynov, Chinov, Glavatskaya, Mamarakhimov, Tojibaev 16 (Herbarium of Chatkal Biosphere Reserve).