Broken Tulips Today
Today, tulips like Rem's Sensation displaying a "broken" effect are stable variants and the result of breeding, not viral infection, although many tulip fanciers feel these "modern" variants are a poor substitute when compared to the long-extinct rare cultivars like Semper Augustus. Modern tulip varieties infected with the virus are fragile, and are usually much smaller than normal healthy blooms, with a reduced stem length. There are only a few varieties of older, truly "broken" tulips still in existence, but only because the worst aspects of the virus have somehow remained benign. One such example is the rare Absalon which dates from 1780; a "bizarre" colored variety, it displays gold flames against a dark chocolate brown background.
Read more about this topic: Tulip Breaking Virus
Famous quotes containing the words broken, tulips and/or today:
“‘Tis not enough on roots and in the mouth,
But give me water heavy on the head
In all the passion of a broken drouth.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Here tulips bloom as they are told;
Unkempt about those hedges blows
An English unofficial rose;”
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)
“In the information age, you don’t teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If Aristotle were alive today he’d have a talk show.”
—Timothy Leary (b. 1920)