genus tulipa
appprox 100 species- barely domesticated
- heterogenous seeds take 7-8 years to grow but can be cloned by bulb for 1-2 years
somaclonal variation
1/1,000,000
natural variation in color
other sources of color variation
tulip breaking virus vectored by an aphid
tulip craze 1: turkish
turkey ruled by ottomon empire since 1450
- sultans loved tulips
selim II (1574) ordered 50,000 tulips for palace garden
tulip era
sultan ahmet III (1703-1730)
- breeding became a vogue among the rich
troops hated sultan ahmet because he was cruel
religious leaders hate him because he brought in western infleunces
- revolt and tulips fell out of flavour (1500 varieties disapeared)
tulip craze 2: Dutch
protestant netherlands in 17th century
- religiously tolerant rich trading nation
early capitalism
amsterdam had 1st stock market in history of the world
- profit depending on timing/trading of shares so can win/lose very quickly
IOU
can buy shares on IOU
- large and small scale stock brokers
protestant religion
pastors + amsterdams municipal officers were against because threatened social stability
- trading in the wind
religious tension in relation to wealth
cancelled Sinter Klaas parade
1607: Delft city council banished gingerbread men
1663: cancelled Sinter Klaas parade, children rioted
tulip mania
botanist clusius grew first tulips
- his gardens were stolen and manipulated
tulip fad
very expensive ones were rare
ex. Semper Augustus
when did the market collapse
1637:
bulbs were sold or traded on IOU
tulips did not have to change hands for someone to make money