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Fritillaria imperialis
Also called Crown Imperial, Kaiser's Crown
Crown imperial is a bulbous spring-flowering plant from Turkey to the western Himalaya, grown for its whorl of pendulous orange-red flowers topped by a crown of leaves. Plant bulbs in early autumn in well-drained soil in a sunny spot and keep them out of the air for long.
Fritillaria imperialis, the crown imperial, imperial fritillary or Kaiser's crown, is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae, native to a wide stretch of Asia including Turkey, Iran (e.g. Kurdistan), Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern India, and the Himalayan foothills. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental and reportedly naturalized in Austria, Sicily, and Washington State, US. The common names and the epithet "imperialis", literally "of the emperor", refer to the large circle of golden flowers, reminiscent of an emperor's crown.
The species and the yellow-flowered 'Maximea Lutea' have both gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Other cultivars in shades of red, yellow and orange, are available.
Like other members of the lily family, F. imperialis is susceptible to depredation by the scarlet lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii).
Fritillaria acmopetala · Checker lily · Kamchatka fritillary · Fritillaria chitralensis · Fritillaria eduardii · Chequered lily · Sinkiang Fritillaria · Persian Fritillary · Fritillaria pontica · Yellow fritillary · Pyrenean Snake's Head · Fritillary
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fritillaria imperialis 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
