FREMONTIA 



FRITILLARIA 



1279 



many seeds. One species in Calif., allied to the Mexican 

 Cheiranthodendron. Its bark is sometimes used as a 

 substitute for that of the slippery elm and the plant 

 is therefore locally known under this name. 



This is a beautiful free-flowering shrub, with rather 

 small, palmately lobed leaves and large yellow flowers 

 appearing in great profusion in June. It is not hardy 

 North, and in cooler regions it should have a sunny 

 and sheltered position, preferably against a wall of 

 southern aspect; it prefers well-drained, rather dry soil, 

 and dislikes, especially during the winter, an excess of 

 moisture. Propagation is by seeds or by greenwood 

 cuttings under glass in summer. 



californica, Torr. (Fremontodendron californicum, 

 Coville). To 20 ft.: Ivs. generally roundish ovate, cor- 

 date or rounded at the base, obtuse, 3-5-lobed or 

 almost entire, whitish or ferrugineous pubescent 

 beneath, %-lK in. long: calyx lj^-3 in. across, deep 

 yellow, with stellate hairs outside, villous at the base 

 within; lobes orbicular: caps, densely beset with hispid 

 hairs, 1 in. long. S.S. 1:23. B.M. 5591. Gn. 3, p. 55; 

 22, p. 115; 29:8; 33. p. 566. G. 5:397; 32:457. G.M. 

 50:29. F.S. 22:2349. R.H. 1867:90. I.H. 13:496. 

 B.H. 17 : 13. ALFRED REHDER. 



FREYCINETIA (Chas. Louis de Freycinet, 1779- 

 1842, French navigator). Pandanaceae. Climbing or 

 straggling shrubs sometimes seen under glass and per- 

 haps planted far S., but apparently not in the American 

 trade. The sts. are often prolonged, rooting: Ivs. 

 sheathing at base, the free part long and narrow, cari- 

 nate, serrate or entire: fls. dioecious, in terminal fas- 

 cicled spadices surrounded by fleshy leafy often colored 

 bracts; males consisting of several stamens with short 

 filaments; females of many 1-celled many-ovuled 

 densely packed ovaries: fr. an oblong mass of fleshy or 

 hard drupes. Species above 50, islands of the Pacific, 

 Austral., New Zeal. F. Bdnksii, Cunn., is a tall climber, 

 sometimes attaining the tops of high trees, with many 

 stout branches, the arching Ivs. to 3 ft. long and most 

 abundant toward the ends of the branches: fl. -bracts 

 numerous and leafy, the inner ones with thick succulent 

 bases, sweet, and often eaten in New Zeal., where the 

 plant is native: fr. rather fleshy, brown at maturity, 

 Hiii. long, edible. B.M. 6028. F. Cumingiana, Gaud., 

 of uncertain nativity, is more slender, Ivs. not arching 

 and divaricate. The freycinetias are little grown 

 indoors as they require much room. They may be 

 used as pillar plants. Prop, by offsets. L. H. B. 



FRINGE-TREE: Chionanthus virginica. 



FRITILLARIA (Latin fritillus, commonly understood 

 to be a checker-board, but may have meant dice-box). 

 Liliacese. FRITILLARY. This group includes the crown 

 imperial and the fritillaries, hardy bulbous plants, 

 mostly low-growing and spring-blooming, with drooping 

 or nodding flowers which are often checkered or tessel- 

 lated with dark purple and green, but some also with 

 brighter colors. 



Various leafy-stemmed simple herbs, the st.-lvs. 

 narrow, sessile, alternate or whorled, the bulb mostly 

 of few fleshy scales: perianth deciduous, mostly bell- 

 shaped or sometimes bowl-shaped, the segms. nearly 

 or quite equal, oblong or ovate, all or the inner ones 

 with a nectar-bearing cavity or area at the base ; sta- 

 mens 6, with slender filaments and linear or oblong 

 anthers; ovary 3-celled, nearly or quite sessile: fr. an 

 ovoid or subglobose loculicidal winged or angled caps., 

 with numerous seeds. Species perhaps 70, widely dis- 

 tributed in the north temperate zone. Fritillaries 

 resemble lilies in having drooping or nodding fls. but 

 their anthers are fixed at the base, while those of the 

 lilies are fastened on the back but are free to swing 

 about. Lilies have funnel-shaped fls., while fritil- 

 laries and tulips have bell-shaped fls., and tulip fls. are 



erect. Nearly all the Old World fritillaries resemble 

 tulips in having coated bulbs, while the American 

 fritillaries resemble lilies in having scaly bulbs. 



The most popular kinds are the checkered lily (F. 

 meleagris) and crown imperial (F. Imperialist . Figs. 

 1582, 1583. These are hardy, easy to cultivate, and 

 variable. The crown imperial is one of the most 

 characteristic plants of old-fashioned gardens, but it has 

 been banished from many modern gardens because of 

 its strong fetid odor. It is the most robust species, and 

 until lately was supposed to be the only one with its 

 flowers in umbels, all the others being solitary or in 

 racemes. It rejoices the children early in every spring 

 by its pearly drops of nectar, which seem never to fall. 

 F. meleagris, the most popular of the purple kinds, is 

 the common snake's-head or checkered lily, so called 

 from the tessellation of purple and green, which is 

 prettiest when as sharply and regularly defined as 

 possible. This plant grows wild in moist English mead- 

 ows, and can be naturalized in large quantities in such 

 situations. Other ancient inhabitants of European 



Gardens are F. latifolia, F. lutea and F. persica. Other 

 inds are apparently less known in gardens. As a rule, 

 the kinds that are chiefly purple or green, or mixtures of 

 both colors, are dull, unattractive and curious compared 

 with the few kinds that have brilliant yellow or red. 

 Of the duller and purple kinds, two of the choicest, 

 next to F . meleagris, are F. tulipifolia (which is flamed 

 like a tulip and never checkered) and F. camtschat- 

 censis, great masses of which in Alaska make one of 

 the "summer sights" remembered by the tourists. 

 The white in fritillaries is perhaps always more or less 

 greenish, and the white color in F . meleagris is as good 

 as in any species. A most brilliant species is F. recurva, 

 which is also difficult of culture. Next in brilliancy 

 come such species as F. lutea, F. aurea, F. Moggridgei 

 and F. pudica, all highly individual and all yellow, 

 some checkered, others not. 



The culture of fritillaries is rather various, as some 

 species are capable of being naturalized, some culti- 

 vated in borders, some in rockeries and others in pots. 

 The crown imperial, being exceptionally vigorous, 

 requires deep planting, rich soil and much room. The 

 earth should be trenched. Well-rotted manure may be 

 worked into the soil 6 inches below the bulbs and the 

 bulbs set on a level 6 inches from the surface of the 

 ground. If possible it should be shaded from the mid- 

 day sun, as southern exposures are said to make the 

 flowers smaller and shorter-lived. In border cultiva- 

 tion of fritillaries the essential peculiarities are a 

 sheltered shady site, early fall planting, division every 

 two or three years, and, as a rule, a warm, deep, sandy 

 loam, which is not top cold or too retentive of moisture. 

 Bulbs of the taller kinds may be planted 3 to 4 inches 

 deep; bulbs of the dwarf kinds may be set at half that 

 depth. As all fritillaries increase rapidly by offsets, it 

 is desirable to lift and divide the plants at least every 

 three years, or the small bulbs will rob the big ones. 

 For the same reason, fritillaries are rarely propagated 

 by seeds. The dwarf and rare sorts require more care 

 and some leaf-mold in their soil, and some kinds require 

 an evergreen carpet through which they may spring, 

 as Sedum hispanicum or its var. glaucum. 



Our native fritillaries, which include the bright- 

 flowered F. recurva and F. pudica, are confined to the 

 Pacific coast. Of these Carl Purdy makes two cultural 

 groups, based on the character of bulb, the kind of soil 

 and the conditions of shade. The first group contains 

 F. biflora, F. liliacea, F. pluriflora and F. Purdyi; the 

 second F. atropurpurea, F. coccinea, F. lanceolata, F. 

 parviflora, F. pudica and F. recurva. The former grow 

 in the sun in open fields in heavy clay soils; the latter 

 in shady woods in well-drained soils, but F. pudica 

 does not need so much shade as the others of its group, 

 and must have sandy loam and slight shelter. The bulbs 

 of the first group are composed of thick, heavy scales 



