Tulips and Their Role in Different Cultures

Tulips have been, and still is admired by people in many different regions and cultures. Wild tulips are found in Europe, Africa and Asia. Their own area extends from southern Europe to North Africa, and proceeds eastward to Asia from Anatolia and Iran. The most prominent Tulip habitats can be found on the steppes of Kazakhstan under the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains, but wanted to find all tulips in the eastern parts of China and Japan.

The Tulip is always highly regarded by Middle Eastern cultures and the European name "Tulip" is actually derived from the Persian word for turban. Some etymologists claim that the name was chosen because a budding Tulip resembles a traditional turban, while others etymologists suggest that the term instead is the result of a misunderstanding - Tulip flowers were often used to the folds of the turban to decorate. If you look at the traditional folk art from Persia and Turkey, you will

Today, the Tulip is the national flower of Iran and Turkey, the tulip is even suggested the Iranian flag. If you look at the traditional Persian and Turkish folk you will clearly see how important the Tulip motif and have been. Netherlands in Europe is a country strongly connected to the Tulip, tulips and the Netherlands for example, will be sent to the Canadian capital Ottawa each year. During the Second World War, Canada helped liberate the Netherlands from the German invasion and also served as a refuge for the Dutch crown princess who later to become Queen Juliana.

In Europe and the Ottoman Empire, episodes of the so-called "Tulip Mania" as tulips are used for speculation took place. Historians still debate how serious the waves of speculation, and how damaging the Tulip booms and subsequent crashes were the respective economies. Some even claim that Tulip Mania contributed significantly to the ultimate financial demise of the Ottoman Empire.

Historians do not now exactly when and how the Tulip was introduced to Western Europe for the first time, and perhaps Tulips were brought to this part of the world a few times before the flower was really appreciated and famous. One story claims that Ambassador Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq Tulips brought attention to the German already in 1554. Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq was sent by Ferdinand I of Germany to Suleyman the Magnificent and in one of his letters he writes of seeing "an abundance of flowers everywhere, daffodils, hyacinths, and those which the Turks call tulipam, to our surprise, because it was almost midwinter, a season unfriendly to flowers ". Botanists are however a bit skeptical to this letter, because tulips do not bloom in winter, even in the hot Middle East. Maybe Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq confused winter trip with an expedition in which he participated during a warmer part of the year of 1558. We know that Oghier Ghislain de Busbecq and wrote all his letters after his travels, not while he was actually traveling