tulip breaking virus

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July 23, 2026

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The Tulip Breaking Virus is a plant virus that causes a phenomenon known as "breaking" in tulips. This results in the flowers developing exotic streaks or flames of color, rather than a solid hue. While this virus was responsible for the unique beauty of certain tulips, it also weakened the bulbs, leading to a decline in their supply.1

This virus played a significant role in the 17th-century Dutch speculative bubble known as Tulip Mania. The demand for these strikingly colored, virus-infected tulips drove prices to extraordinary levels. Ironically, the cultivation of infected tulips is now illegal in many places to contain the virus. Tulip mosaic is a disease marked by this color break, creating irregular striping or feathering on the flower.12

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Tulip Mania
How a Plant Virus Fueled a Speculative Frenzy
…phenomenon to a virus (the Tulip Breaking Virus), but the streaked flowers quickly became a preoccupation for "gentlemen botanists" and aristocrats in the Netherlands. In 1596 and again in 1598, broken tulips were stolen from Clusius’s garden, and the genetically variable seeds of those purloined flowers became the foundation for…
Read More
…phenomenon to a virus (the Tulip Breaking Virus), but the streaked flowers quickly became a preoccupation for "gentlemen botanists" and aristocrats in the Netherlands. In 1596 and again in 1598, broken tulips were stolen from Clusius’s garden, and the genetically variable seeds of those purloined flowers became the foundation for…
Read More