When I was doing research for The American Gardener's World of Bulbs (Little, Brown and Co, 1994) a Dutch friend translated the following for me, pg 43 "A pamphlet published January 23, 1945, concerning the food supply during the war was written by Rubber Society at Delft, which was trying to supply staff members with extra food supplies "in the form of Tulipbulbs, food that - if well prepared - is eaten nowadays in great quantities in the big cities." Noting that the nutritional value of the tulip is 'almost 1.8 times that of potatoes" the pamphlet goes on to suggest methods of preparation. The thin brown tunic was removed and the bulb sliced in half to permit removal of the inedible immature yellow shoots in the center. Eaten raw the bulbs are hard to digest, and recipes suggest boiling and mashing, separating the scales and roasting into tulip chips, or grinding and drying into a coarse flower to be used for making bread and pancakes. Eight bulbs at one meal was considered a rather good portion. Gladiolus were also eaten, but never narcissus, which are poisonous." There is also the anecdote from the seventeenth century, "possibly apocryphal about an Antwerp merchant who, mistaking for onions some tulip bulbs sent from Constantinople with a consignment of cloth, roasted and ate a number of them to great financial loss." ibid. Concerning introduction of tulips: The information I received from Dutch sources at the Leiden Botanic Garden (Carolus Clusius was a professor at the University of Leyden commencing in autumn 1593) was that Olgier Ghiselin de Busbecq, ambassador from the Emperor Ferdinand I to the court of Suleiman the Magnificent brought seeds and probably also bulbs back to Vienna in the mid-sixteenth century. De Busbecq sent "a large quantity" of tulip seed to Clusius in 1573, de Busbecq being due to leave for France the following year. The seed was apparently somewhat shriveled, and Cluisus didn't get around to sowing it until 1575. Germination was, however, excellent and beginning in 1580 the tulips began to flower with red, white. yellow, and purple flowers, even some with mixed colors. This is apparently also the first mention of tulips "breaking." Interestingly, I have been unable to find any mention of susceptibility of wild tulips to lily mottle virus. Apparently only cultivated tulips are affected by the virus resulting in parti-colored flowers. And now I shall go outdoors and plant some tulips. Judy in autumnally chilly New Jersey