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Fritillaria
Also called Missionbells, Checkered Lilies, Fritillaries, Snake's Head Lilies, Snakeshead Lilies, Snakesheads
Fritillaria is a genus of spring-flowering bulbous perennials in the lily family, with about 130 to 140 species, mostly native to temperate Northern Hemisphere regions. Most grow best in full sun or open, well-drained sites, and many wild species are endangered from over-picking.
Fritillaria (fritillaries) is a genus of spring flowering herbaceous bulbous perennial plants in the lily family (Liliaceae). The type species, Fritillaria meleagris, was first described in Europe in 1571, while other species from the Middle East and Asia were also introduced to Europe at that time. The genus has about 130–140 species divided among eight subgenera. The flowers are usually solitary, nodding and bell-shaped with bulbs that have fleshy scales, resembling those of lilies. They are known for their large genome size and genetically are very closely related to lilies. They are native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from the Mediterranean and North Africa through Eurasia and southwest Asia to western North America. Many are endangered due to enthusiastic picking.
The name Fritillaria is thought to refer to the checkered pattern of F.
Most fritillaries contain poisonous steroidal alkaloids such as imperialin in the bulbs and some may even be deadly if ingested in quantity.
Fritillaria are distributed in most temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, from western North America, through Europe, the Mediterranean, Middle East and Central Asia to China and Japan. Centres of diversity include Turkey (39 species) and the Zagros Mountains of Iran (14–15 species). Iran is also the centre of diversity of species such as F. imperialis and F. persica. There are five areas of particularly active evolution and clustering of species - California, Mediterranean Greece and Turkey, Anatolia and the Zagros mountains, central Asia from Uzbekistan to western Xinjiang and the eastern Himalayas in southwestern China. Fritillaria species are found in a wide variety of climatic regions and habitats, but about half of them show a preference for full sun in open habitats.
The bulbs of a few species, such as F. affinis, F. camschatcensis, and F. pudica, are edible if prepared carefully. They were commonly eaten by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. The wild species flowering in areas such as Iran have become important for ecotourism, when in late May people come to the Valley of Roses, near Chelgerd, to see F. imperialis blooming. The area is also rich in F. reuteri and F. gibbosa.
Fritillaria acmopetala · Checker lily · Kamchatka fritillary · Fritillaria chitralensis · Fritillaria eduardii · Imperial fritillary · Chequered lily · Sinkiang Fritillaria · Persian Fritillary · Fritillaria pontica · Yellow fritillary · Pyrenean Snake's Head
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fritillaria by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
