Zenaida Tulip  was described in 1935 by A. Vvedensky. The endem of the Kirghiz range is found only in the Merke valley and neighboring gorges and, also, in Kyrgyzstan. It was named after the Tashkent professor Zinaida Petrovna Bochantseva (1907-1973), who devoted her life to studying Central Asian tulips. It grows on soft and slightly gravelly steep slopes often among bushes in the lower belts of mountains. It is one of the most elegant among all Kazakhstani tulips. The stem is 15-30 cm tall with three bluish leaves. Flower is cup-shaped, 5-6 cm high, contrasting color. From the inside all the leaves of the perianth are bright yellow, the outer ones on the back are red with a narrow yellow border along the edge. A distinctive feature of this species is a clear hexagonal black spot on the bottom of the flower equally pronounced in the red-flowered forms. It propagates itself by seeds. The number is not high; its density reaches 48 and, on average, no more than 10 individuals per 1m2. In the conditions of culture the seedlings bloom in their fifth year. The species is very responsive to agro technical care - all the organs of the plant are enlarged; there are many-flowered individuals (up to 2-3 flowers per stem). It is a rare one in the collections. It is protected only in the territory of the Merken Reserve.