Description
A new species, named as recently as 2008 by L.W.D. Raamsdonk, though it was discovered as long ago as 1969 by the eponymous Professor Tom Hewer in northern Afghanistan, the only area in which it is know to occur wild. The species is related to Tulipa praestans though the two never overlap in the wild. Tulipa heweri differs in having smaller and less densely ciliate leaves, yellow or ochre flowers, yellow filaments, anthers and stigma, and a green ovary.
It bears between one and three flowers per stem (it belongs to the multiflorae series) these are golden yellow in and out though sometimes the exterior of the outer petals is shaded with fine lines of vermilion giving a lovely blush coloring, which with age becomes more like a flame in shape and intensity.
Cultivation is not difficult either potted in a well drained, fertile, loam-based compost or in a sunny spot in a garden situation that provides the same conditions of fertility and drainage. Annual lifting and cleaning is appreciated though not essential every year.
