Outer tepalsA tulip has six tepals in two rings of three. The outer three stand in for sepals, but look just like petals.
Inner tepalsThe inner ring of three tepals. Their tips show between the outer ones.
Flower stemOne upright stem rises from the bulb. It carries the flower at its tip. Botanists also call it a scape.
LeavesThe leaves grow on the stem and clasp it. The largest are lowest, and they get smaller up the stem.
BulbThe bulb stores food under the ground. A papery skin called the tunic covers it.
OffsetGrows from a bud at the base of the mother bulb. It can become a new plant. Also called a bulblet.
RootsThey grow down into the soil from the bottom of the bulb.
Flower and bulb cut open 8
BlotchA patch of a different color at the base of each tepal. Many tulips have one, on the inside of the cup.
FilamentsEach stamen has a filament with an anther on top. In a tulip the filaments are shorter than the tepals and wider toward the base.
AnthersPollen is made in the anthers. A tulip has six stamens; the cut flower shows four of them.
OvaryIt stands in the middle of the flower, above the tepals' base. It has three chambers, and the seeds form inside it.
StigmaPollen has to land on the stigma for seeds to form. A tulip has little or no style, so the three-lobed stigma sits right on the ovary.
Fleshy scalesThe scales are the bulb's food store. They wrap round one another under the papery tunic.
ShootHolds the leaves and flower that are still to come. It is in the middle of the bulb.
Basal plateThe basal plate is the bottom of the bulb. The roots grow from its underside and the scales from its top.
How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-09-30 against sources read that day; a name is kept only when two of them use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Tulip, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip (six free tepals in two whorls of three, the two whorls standing for three petals and three sepals; a blotch of a different color at the base of the tepals, inside; six stamens whose filaments are shorter than the tepals and wider toward the base; style short or absent, stigma with three lobes, ovary superior with three chambers; the flower on a stem or scape; leaves borne on the stem, strap-shaped and waxy, smaller up the stem; the bulb in its tunic; offsets), Bulb, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulb (fleshy scales as the food store, the shoot at the center, the basal plate from which roots emerge below, tunicate bulbs such as Tulipa) and Tepal, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tepal (outer three and inner three tepals). (2) North Carolina State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, Tulipa, https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/tulipa/ (tepals 6, free, in two whorls, often blotched; anthers; strap-like clasping leaves; erect stems; a bulbous perennial). (3) University of Illinois Extension, Bulbs and More, Bulb Basics, https://extension.illinois.edu/bulbs/bulb-basics (the five parts of a true bulb: basal plate from which roots grow, fleshy scales, tunic, the shoot of developing flower and leaf buds, lateral buds that become bulblets or offsets; tulips as tunicate bulbs). (4) OpenStax, Biology 2e, 32.1 Reproductive Development and Structure, https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/32-1-reproductive-development-and-structure (stamen as filament and anther; carpel as stigma, style and ovary). Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain curves; own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work
How it works
The first drawing is a whole tulip, from the roots under the bulb up to the flower. The second is a tulip flower diagram with the cup cut open, beside the bulb cut in half.
Read the full guide
From the bulb up
Under the soil is the bulb, with roots below it and a small offset at its side. One flower stem rises from it, with broad leaves that clasp the stem. At the top, six tepals make the cup: three outer and three inner. Cut open, the cup holds six stamens, each a filament with an anther, round an ovary topped by the stigma. The cut bulb shows its fleshy scales, the shoot in the middle and the basal plate.
A tulip's petals and sepals look alike, so all six are called tepals.
The stigma has three lobes and sits straight on the ovary.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a tulip flower?
Six tepals in two rings of three, six stamens and one pistil. Each stamen is a filament with an anther on top. The pistil is an ovary with a three-lobed stigma on it.
Does a tulip have petals or sepals?
Both, but they look the same, so botanists call them all tepals. The outer ring of three stands for the sepals and the inner ring of three for the petals.
What is inside a tulip bulb?
Fleshy scales that store food, a shoot in the middle that holds the coming leaves and flower, and a basal plate at the bottom where the roots grow. A papery tunic covers the outside.
What is the dark patch at the bottom of a tulip petal?
It is called a blotch. Many tulips have a patch of a different color at the base of each tepal, on the inside of the cup.