Fragrant Fritillary

Fritillaria liliacea
NATIVE – CA ENDEMIC

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Monocotyledon
  • Monocots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Lily Family (Liliaceae)
• Perennial herb
  • Grows from a bulb (short underground stem with fleshy leaves, e.g. onion)
• Leaves
  • Basal and alternate (1 leaf at each junction with stem)
  • Linear to ovate (egg-shaped)
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) is a raceme (unbranched stem with stalked flowers opening from the bottom up)
  • 1 to several white, nodding, bell-shaped flowers, with green veins
    • 3 petals and 3 sepals (outer flower parts), in 2 separate whorls, similar in appearance and collectively called tepals
  • Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit is a 6-angled, upright capsule (a dry, multi-chambered fruit that splits open at maturity) with many seeds
• Height to 14 in.

Distribution

• Native and endemic (limited) to California
  • Grows in hilly grasslands with heavy clay or serpentine soils
  • 50-54% of plants occur on ultramafic soils, e.g. serpentine; see ultramafic affinity rankings (Calflora per Safford and Miller 2020)
  • See Serpentine Grassland for more about Edgewood’s serpentine soil and the unique communities it supports
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere)
• Grows at elevations to 700 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Mammals eat the bulbs
    • Deer appear to favor the flowers as blooms often quickly disappear
  • Frequented by bees and beetles
• Native people
  • Ate the bulbs boiled, steamed, roasted, or baked in earthen ovens (Anderson 2005)
  • See Lily family for more details about how Native people actively managed edible geophytes
• CAUTION – some Fritillaria species are toxic

Name Derivation

• Fritillaria (fri-til-AIR-ee-a) – from the Latin fritillus, “a dicebox,” possibly referring to the shape of the seedpod or the patterned flowers
  • For information about ancient dice boxes/cups, including images, see Thayer 2019
• liliace (lil-ee-AY-see-ee) – “lily-like,” from the Greek lirion, “lily”
• Fragrant fritillary – some sources indicate flowers are sweet-scented, while others state no or faint scent

Notes

• Geophytes (e.g. plants growing from bulbs, corms, rhizomes, or enlarged taproots) are well adapted to survive fire, our Mediterranean climate’s long, dry summers, and extended droughts
  • Above-ground growth dies back after flowering, while underground the plant survives with stored water and nutrients
• Many of California’s Fritillaria species are of limited distribution and are declining in numbers due to habitat loss and horticultural collecting (Himes 1997)

ID Tips

• Has a distinctive flower, but when not in bloom, its vegetation is similar to many monocots found at Edgewood

At Edgewood

• Found in serpentine grasslands
  • No iNaturalist observations are documented because locations of rare species are obscured
• Flowers February – April

Specific References

Alexander, E.B. 2010, Oct. & 2011, Jan. Serpentine soils and why they limit plant survival and growth. Fremontia 38/39: 28-31.

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley.

Himes, K. 1997, Mar. Edgewood’s two Fritillaria, harbingers of spring. Edgewood Explorer.

Safford, H.D. 2010, Oct. & 2011, Jan. Serpentine endemism of the California flora. Fremontia 38/39: 32-39.

Safford, H.D. and J.E.D. Miller. 2020. An updated database of serpentine endemism in the California flora. Madroño 67(2): 85-104. BioOne Complete. PDF hosted by San Diego State University, San Diego, California.

Thayer, B. 2019. Fritillus. LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World.

General References

Calflora Database. 2014. Berkeley, California.

Calscape. 2018. California Native Plant Society.

Charters, M.L. 2015. Latin and Greek Plant Names: Meaning and Derivations.

Charters, M.L. 2017. Southern California Wildflowers: Guide to the Pronunciation of Specific, Generic and Family Names.

Corelli, T. 2004. Flowering Plants of Edgewood Natural Preserve (2nd. ed.). Monocot Press, Half Moon Bay, California.

Dave’s Garden.

Elpel, T.J. 2013. Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification. HOPS Press, Pony, Montana.

Flora of North America. efloras.org.

Harris, J.G. and M.W. Harris. 2013. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake Publishing, Spring Lake, Utah.

Keator, G. 2009. California Plant Families. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.

Native American Ethnobotany DB.

Regents of the University of California. Jepson eFlora. Jepson Herbarium. University of California, Berkeley.