Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. Its species are native to southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the east to northeast of China and Japan. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan. They are perennial bulbous plants growing to 10Ц70 centimetres (4Ц27 in) tall, with a small number of strap-shaped, waxy-textured, usually glaucous green leaves and large flowers with six petals. The fruit is a dry capsule containing numerous flat disc-shaped seeds. Although tulips are associated with Holland, both the flower and its name originated in the Persian Empire. The tulip is actually not a Dutch flower as many people tend to believe. Tulip or ''Laleh'' as it's called in Persian, is a flower indigenous to Iran, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia.
