New species of tulip discovered in Asia by Cambridge student

“We really need to understand what species exist before we can work out which ones are in most urgent need of protection”

Many Europeans are familiar with tulips from Amsterdam but it is a new tulip from Kyrgyzstan that has got hearts and minds racing for conservationists.

DNA testing at the University of Cambridge's Department of Plant Sciences has found that a tulip discovered in Central Asia is a newly identified species of the flower. 

St John’s postgraduate student Brett Wilson is a member of the expedition team from Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and local tulip experts who made the discovery of the flower they have named Tulipa toktogulica.

“It is really exciting,” said Brett, who has been working in tulip conservation in Central Asia with FFI for the past four years as part of his PhD.

Brett Wilson and colleagues
International collaboration (above, from left): Brett with David Gill from FFI, Kew consultant Maarten Christenhusz and Ormon Sultangaziev, from FFI Kyrgyzstan. Top: Tulipa dasystemon growing in the Suusamyr valley of Kyrgyzstan. Image credits: Brett Wilson.

The 28-year-old is project leader of the wild tulip collaboration project, specialising in conservation science and phylogenetics – the study of the evolutionary relationships among biological entities. Some of his work has also now led to the addition for the first time of 53 species of tulip from Central Asia to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Brett and his fellow conservationists found Tulipa toktogulica in the Toktogul region of Kyrgyzstan, a former member of the Soviet Union. The plant takes its name from the region, which is itself called after a famous Kyrgyz poet and musician, and the team hopes this will highlight the incredible floral diversity of the area and need for its conservation.

Growing between 10cm and 19cm tall, the tulip has a bright yellow flower with red-streaked petals and scientists suspect even more new species will be found in the region. Among the botanists who made the discovery were local experts including from the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, who are familiar with the mountainous terrain.

News species of tulip
The new species of tulip discovered by Brett and his colleagues. Image credit: Brett Wilson.

“We’ve been collaborating with lots of local partners and engaged with scientific institutes and botanic gardens within Central Asia, which is where we find most species of wild tulip,” explained Brett, who is based at the Plant Sciences Department and the Botanic Garden in Cambridge.

“We estimate there are between 90 to 100 species but I’m sure it’s going to change in the near future because people on the ground keep finding and describing new ones.”

The taxonomy – or scientific classification – of tulips has been carried out since 1753. Now scientists can use genetics and DNA to identify different species and gain a greater understanding of tulip ‘family history’.

“There are lots of variation within a species – two plants can look quite different but actually be very closely related,” said Brett. “DNA offers a really nice avenue to try to resolve some of these long-standing issues and we’ve done that in the context of conservation, because we really need to understand what species exist before we can work out which ones are in most urgent need of protection.”

“We’ve managed to get 53 species added to the database – that’s about 80 per cent of Central Asian tulips”

Wild yellow tulips
Tulipa dasystemon growing in the Suusamyr valley of Kyrgyzstan. Image credit: Brett Wilson.

Wild tulips in Central Asia are not only under threat from climate change but also locally from livestock over-grazing, mining and urbanisation – and sometimes they are simply picked because they look pretty.

Brett and his team are focused on scientific research but work with local pasture management and conservation organisations. Within this role they advise residents on how best to protect wild tulip populations in the area, which is internationally recognised as a biodiversity hotspot, one of only 36 recognised worldwide that are especially important for nature.

A large part of the work has involved getting the native tulips accepted on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Because the countries involved were once behind the iron curtain of the former Soviet Union, the richness of their biodiversity has been poorly represented in the broader scientific community. Before now the only tulips on the red list were from the Balkans, Greece and Cyprus.

“We’ve managed to get 53 species added to the database – that’s about 80 per cent of Central Asian tulips – so we have filled a big gap,” said Brett. “We brought together partners in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and focused on the species of those four countries, but they have lots of species within them. So we have captured a large amount of diversity, which is going to raise awareness of the problem of extinction.

“It also opens avenues for funding because policymakers’ funding bodies look at the IUCN Red List to determine whether a species is threatened or not. So hopefully, it will really promote the conservation of these endangered tulips.”

Brett with local tulip experts
Brett, second from right, with local experts in Sary-Chelek Biosphere Reserve. Image credit: Brett Wilson.

The red list is updated every six months and the Central Asian tulips are expected to go live on the website before the end of the year.

Wild tulips are a useful indicator of an ecosystems’ health – if they are doing badly in the wild, it can indicate that pasture is being over-grazed and other plants are also struggling. As well as being important for insect populations and pollinators they also have widespread cultural importance, with many Central Asian countries adopting them as their national flower.

“For me, a plant is just amazing to see in the wild and it would be such a shame for it to be lost, for other people not to have the opportunity to see it growing in the mountains,” said Brett. The postgraduate student has just completed his thesis and will soon be leaving St John’s College and tulips behind for pastures new.

Tulip team vehicle
The 'tulip team' heading off to hunt for wild tulips in the north-west of Kyrgyzstan. Image credit: Brett Wilson.

Proud to have played such a key part in laying the foundations for a regional strategy for tulip conservation across Central Asia, he has also helped the Botanic Gardens in both Cambridge and Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek to expand their tulip collections.

 “It’s been an incredible experience. I’ve met so many interesting people, experienced so many different things, and I’ve been to the first ever tulip festival in Bishkek this year, which they hope will now happen annually,” said Brett.

“I feel a little sad that I’m leaving the tulips behind but there’s enough people working in that area now, the project is in safe hands. We’ve collected the data, now it’s a time for action.”

Published 1/12/2022

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