It was a while ago, but I read a book called Tulip: the Story of a Flower that Made Men Go Mad by a lady named Anna Parvod, and she says that they think the tulip came from Persia-- Apparently it originally was merely a little wildflower-- like the ones you see in Persian art with the pointed petals. I'm not sure about the details-- I read the book a long time ago-- but I think that's the general idea.