Tradition and beauty - early-flowering plants from bulbs in botany and arts
Europeans have always been fascinated by flower bulbs and their magnificent blooms, from tulip-obsessed Dutch medieval artists to urban gardeners of today. Flower bulbs have been cultured for centuries, and a large number of earlier species and varieties still grow today. Characterised by their remarkable beauty and special fragrance, these historical rarities are coveted plants for gardeners and collectors. Given that the inconspicuous bulbs from which the flowers spring resemble dirty-brown clumps for most of the year, it seems miraculous when such beauty later emerges. In botanical terms, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases which function as food storage organs during dormancy. A bulb's leaf bases contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. Bulbous plant species cycle through vegetative and reproductive growth stages that may have quite different shapes; the bulbs grow to flowering size during the vegetative stage and the plants flower during the reproductive stage. The transition from one stage to another is triggered by environmental conditions, such as the change from a cold winter to a warmer spring. Once the flowering period is over, the plant enters the important foliage period - during the next six weeks, the plant absorbs nutrients from the soil and energy from the sun in order to prepare for next year’s production of flowers. Bulbs dug up after the completion of the foliage period can be easily stored and will bloom again the following year. In this cluster, beautiful examples of flowers from bulbs are collected, spanning about 400 years of flower enthusiasm. These records include field drawings, paintings, copper engravings, herbarium sheets, photos and floral art.
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Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
35199_person; 9490_person
National Gallery of Denmark
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Rippl-Rónai Municipal Museum with County Scope - Kaposvár
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Fernández Arias, M. I.; Devesa Alcaraz, Juan Antonio
Documentary Repository of the University of Salamanca
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Biology Centre Linz
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Meise Botanic Garden
Meise Botanic Garden
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Biology Centre Linz
Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Biology Centre Linz
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Henry C. Andrews
Wellcome Collection
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Natural History Museum of Denmark
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Dr Henry Oakeley
Wellcome Collection
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Cyprus Tourism Organisation
Library of Cyprus University of Technology
35199_person; 9490_person
National Gallery of Denmark
Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid
35199_person; 9490_person
National Gallery of Denmark
Naturalis Biodiversity Center