Tulip is a flower in the genus Tulipa, comprising about 150 bulbous species, and in the family Liliaceae. Tulips originate from mountainous areas with temperate climates and need a period of cool dormancy. Tulips used as pot plants or fresh cut flowers. Tulips are often used in rock gardens. They can even grow in the cold and snowy winter. Plants typically have 2 to 6 leaves, with some species having up to 12leaves.
Botrytis tulipae is a major fungal disease affecting tulips, causing cell death leading to rotten plants. Historically variegated varieties admired during the Dutch tulipomania gained their delicately feathered patterns from an infection with Tulip Breaking Potyvirus, the mosaic virus that was carried by the green peach aphids, Myzus persice. While the virus produces fantastically colourful flowers, it also caused weakened plants that died slowly. Today the virus is almost eradicated from tulip growers' fields. Those Tulips affected by mosaic virus are called "Broken tulips"; they will occasionally revert to a plain or solid colouring, but still remain infected with the virus.
