Tulip Fields, Keukenhof, The Netherlands

Tulip stems can have up to a few leaves, with larger species tending to have multiple leaves and smaller species having none. Plants typically have 2 to 6 leaves, with some species having up to 12 leaves. The tulip's foliage is strap-shaped with a waxy coating and alternately arranged on the stem. These fleshy blades have a light to medium green color and are linear to oblong in shape. Tulip bulbs usually grow on the ends of stolons, and the bulbs' tunicate (dry and papery) coverings may or may not have hairs.
Origin of the name
Although tulips are often associated with The Netherlands, commercial cultivation of the flower began in the Ottoman Empire. The tulip, or lale (from Persian لاله, lâleh) as it is also called in Iran and Turkey, is a flower indigenous to a vast area encompassing parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The word tulip, which earlier appeared in English in forms such as tulipa or tulipant, entered the language by way of French tulipe and its obsolete form tulipan or by way of Modern Latin tulīpa, from Ottoman Turkish tülbend ("muslin" or "gauze"), and is ultimately derived from Persian dulband ("turban").