FRITILLARIA 



FRITILLARIA 



611 



a lover of all fair flowers," by whose "procurement," 

 Parkinson says, it was secured through Turkey. All 

 the remaining kinds are rarer. 



As a rule, the kinds that are chiefly purple or green, 

 or mixtures of both colors, are dull, unattractive and cu- 

 rious compared with the few kinds that have brilliant 

 yellow or red. Of the duller and purple kinds, 2 of the 

 choicest, next to F. Meleagris, are F. tulipifolia (which 

 is flamed like a tulip and never checkered) and F. 

 Gamtschatcensis, 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. By far the most brilliant of the 

 genus is F. recurva, which is also the most difficult 

 of culture. Next in brilliancy come F. lutea, aurea, 

 Mogg ridge i and pudica, all highly individual and all 

 yellow, some checkered, others not. 



The culture of Fritillaries is rather complicated, 2 

 kinds capable of being naturalized, some cult, in bor- 

 ders, some in rockeries and others in pots. The 

 Crown Imperial, being exceptionally vigorous, requires 

 the deepest planting, richest soil and most room. The 

 earth should be trenched. Well rotted manure may be 

 worked into the soil 6 in. below the bulbs and the bulbs 

 set on a level 6 in. from the surface of the ground. This 

 species has the largest fls. in the genus. If possible it 

 should be shaded from the midday sun, as southern ex- 

 posures are said to make the fls. smaller and shorter 

 lived. 



In border cultivation the essential peculiarities are a 

 sheltered, shady s s ite, early fall-planting, division every 

 2 or 3 years, and s as a rule a warm, deep, sandy loam, 

 which is not too cold or too retentive of moisture. 

 Bulbs of the taller kinds may be planted 3-4 in. deep; 

 bulbs of the dwarf kinds may be set at half that depth. 

 As all Fritillaries increase rapidly by offsets, it is desir- 

 able to lift and divide the plants at least every 3 years, 

 or the small bulbs will rob the big ones. For the same 

 reason Fritillaries are rarely prop, by seeds. 



The dwarf and rare sorts require more care and de- 

 serve some leaf-mold in their soil. "E. J.,"in Gn. 52, 

 pp. 242-244, says that such plants require an evergreen 

 carpet through which they may spring, and recommends 

 Sedum Hispanicum or its var. glaucum as the most per- 

 fect carpet possible, taking the least from the soil and 

 giving the least possible resistance to the plants below. 

 "Such carpets must of necessity be plants of very dwarf, 

 creeping growth, such as some of the smaller, mossy 

 saxifrages or aubrietias, that do not mind frequent dis- 

 turbance and are easily replaced." For the principles cf 

 culture in rockeries and pots, see Alpine Gardens and 

 Bulbs. 



Our native Fritillaries, which include the bright-fld. 

 recurva and pudica, are confined to the Pacific coast. 

 Of these Carl Purdy makes 2 cultural groups, based on 

 the character of bulb, the kind of soil and the condi- 

 tions of shade. The first group contains F. biflora, lilia- 

 cea and pluriflora; the second F. atropurpurea , coc- 

 cinea, lanceolata, parri flora, pudica and recurva. The 

 former grow in open fields in heavy clay soils; the lat- 

 ter in shady wools, in well drained soils, but F. pudica 

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

 and must have sandy loam and slight shelter. It is a 

 native of the sandy sage brush region, east of the Sierra 

 Nevada and Cascade Mts. The bulbs of the first group 

 are composed of thick, heavy scales attached to a thin, 

 rhizomatous base; in the second group the bulbs are of 

 one piece, and low-conical in form, their sides thickly 

 covered with small, round, white rice-like offsets. For 

 the first group Purdy recommends a rich loam, and a 

 slight shade to draw out the stems and prolong the 

 bloom; for the second group a light, loose soil, rich in 

 mold, a sheltered place and considerable shade. At 

 the best these are not profuse in their bloom. E. J. ad- 

 vises that the bulbs of F. recurva should be planted 

 with the least possible delay. 



The key to the various subgenera given below is es- 

 sentially Baker's in his monograph in Latin in Jour. 

 Linn. Soc. 14:251 (1875); it rarely happens that the 

 botanical and horticultural interests agree in using 

 such simple and obvious characters as those of the bulb 

 and style. The nectaries or glands are less useful and 



reliable, but they help to give a sense of the natural 

 groups in this large genus. 



A. Bulbs tunicated (i.e., coated). 

 B. Style 3-cut. 



D. Glands distinct and 



prominent, equal. Species Subg&nera 



E. Glands long 1. EUFRITILLARIA 



BE. Glands wide 2-14. MONOCODON 



DD. Glands obscure, equal, 



long NOTHOLIBION 



BB. Style undivided. 



c. Glands equal, obscure ....15-17. AMBLIRION 

 cc. Glands unequal, prominent 



D. Glands long 18. KOROLKOWIA 



DD. Glands short RHINOPETALUM 



AA. Bulbs scaly. 



B. Style undivided 19-Mj . THERISIA 



BB. Style 5 -cut. 



c. Capsules acutely angled. 

 D. Fls. solitary or race- 

 mose 22-25. GONIOCARPA 



DD. Fls. in umbels 26. PETILIUM 



cc. Capsule obtusely angled ..27-30. LILIORHIZA 



Armena, 16. 

 atropurpurea, 24. 

 aurea, 9. 

 biflora, 29. 

 Camschatcensis, 30. 

 coccinea, 25. 

 delphinensis, 3. 

 Elwesii, 14. 

 Imperialis, 26. 

 Kamschatcensis, 30. 

 lanceolata, 22. 

 latifolia, 7. 



INDEX. 



Libanotica, 20. 

 liliacea, 28. 

 lutea, 8. 

 Meleagris, 1. 

 meleagroides, 11. 

 minor, 11. 

 Moggridgei, 3. 

 Oranensis, 13. 

 pallidiflora, 10. 

 parvinora, 23. 

 Persica, 19. 

 pluriflora, 21, 27. 



pudica, 17. 

 Pyrenaica, 12. 

 recurva, 27. 

 Raddeana, 26. 

 Ruthenica, 6. 

 Sewerzowi, 18. 

 Thunbergi, 4. 

 tubseformis, 3. 

 tulipifolia, 15. 

 verticillata, 4. 

 Walujewi, 5. 

 Whittalli, 2. 



872. Stamens 



and pistil of 



Fritillaria 



Meleaeris. 



1. Meleagris, Linn. Figs. 871-873. Distinguished 

 from No. 2 by the glands 5-6 lines long and stigmas 

 half as long as the style. Typically 1-fld. England 

 and Norway, through central Eu. to Caucasus. Gn. 



32:626; 47, p. 330; 52, p. 243. -In the Eng- 

 lish meadows whitish and purplish forms 

 are found which are more or less check- 

 ered. The Dutch bulb-growers keep at 

 least 10 kinds distinct. The extremes of 

 color-range are (1) a greenish white, (2) 

 a sufficient degree of purple to make the 

 checkering as distinct as possible, and (3) 

 an approach to yellow. Some kinds bear 

 2-3 fls. ; some are double; some fls. spread 

 so widely as to be almost funnel-shaped. 

 Var. contbrta, an old monstrosity, instead 

 of segments free all the 

 way, and a shouldered 

 base, has the lower third 

 From Flora of the perianth united into 

 panica.show a funnel-shaped tube. The 



stfem^anfm y ellow of some fls - is con - 

 portant char- jectured to be the result 

 acter in this of a cross with F. lutea 

 genus. made before Gerarde's 



time, say 1630. In Eng- 

 land the species flowers toward the end of 

 April. It is the best "all-round "species. 



2. Whittallii, Baker. Height 1 ft.: 

 stem 1-fld.: Ivs. linear, glaucous: fls. 

 checkered green and brown. Mt. Tau- 

 rus. Int. 1893. 



3. tubaef6rmis, Gren. & Godr. (F. delphinensis, 

 Gren.). Distinguished by the glands 3-4 lines long and 

 very short stigmas. Alps. Baker gives the same color 

 range as for F. Meleagris, but "D.K.," in Gn. 32, p. 537, 

 regards as the typical color a purplish brown, faintly 

 marked with yellow, belonging to a plant that fls. in 

 July. However, the most desirable form is var. M6g- 

 gridgei, Boiss. (F. Mdggridgei, Hort.), with its bright 

 yellow, checkered inside with bright red or reddish 

 brown. This is a dwarfer form from the maritime 



with wider Ivs. (6-9 lines), longer stigmatic cusps, ap. 

 proachine F. lutea, and essentially yellow-fld. G.C. II. 

 13:532. Gn. 18:244. F.M. 1880:405. -It blooms in mid. 

 April. Var. Burnati, Planchon, bright plum, checkered 



