Fritillaria liliacea

Fragrant fritillary
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Fritillaria
Species: F. liliacea
Binomial name
Fritillaria liliacea
Lindl.
Synonyms[1]
  • Fritillaria alba Kellogg 1855, illegitimate homonym not Nutt. 1818
  • Liliorhiza lanceolata Kellogg

Fritillaria liliacea, commonly known as fragrant fritillary, is a threatened perennial herb in the lily family . It is native to the region surrounding San Francisco Bay in California.[2][3][4]

Description

The bell-shaped white flowers have greenish stripes and are set on a nodding pedicel of about 37 centimeters in height. The blossoms are odorless to faintly fragrant.[5] Fritillia liliacea prefers heavy soils including clays; for example, andesitic and basaltic soils derived from the Sonoma Volcanic soil layers are suitable substrate for this species.[6]

Distribution

The range of this wildflower is over parts of southwestern Northern California, USA, especially Solano and Sonoma Counties and at coastal locations south to Monterey County; occurrence is typically in open hilly grasslands at altitudes less than 200 meters in elevation.[7][3]

This California endemic has been a candidate for listing as a U.S. Federally endangered species, and some of the remaining fragmented colonies are at risk of local extinction, such that the species is considered locally endangered. Example occurrences are: Edgewood Park in San Mateo County and the Sonoma Mountains foothills in Sonoma County. Examples of highly fragmented or extirpated colonies are in San Francisco due to urban development.[8]

See also

References

External links

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