Fritillaria atropurpurea
| Fritillaria atropurpurea | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |   |
| Hardiness: | 4 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Width: | 0.2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Spring-Late Spring |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Fritillaria atropurpurea (common name: purple fritillary)
Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame, it should germinate in the spring[1]. Protect from frost[2]. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible and can take a year or more to germinate[2]. Sow the seed quite thinly to avoid the need to prick out the seedlings. Once they have germinated, give them an occasional liquid feed to ensure that they do not suffer mineral deficiency. Once they die down at the end of their second growing season, divide up the small bulbs, planting 2 - 3 to an 8cm deep pot. Grow them on for at least another year in light shade in the greenhouse before planting them out whilst dormant.
Division of offsets in August[1]. The larger bulbs can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, but it is best to pot up the smaller bulbs and grow them on in a cold frame for a year before planting them out in the autumn.
Bulb scales[3].
Cultivation: A woodland plant, preferring light soils[1]. It is best grown in a well-drained sandy woodland soil[4][5][2]. Plants are best grown in a bulb frame and kept rather dry in summer[5]. Water should be withheld in summer or hot spells[6].
Range: Western N. America - California to Oregon, N. Dakota and New Mexico.
Habitat: Rich damp soils in valleys and open woods, also in mountains to near the timberline[7].
Edibility: Bulb - raw or cooked[7]. Rich in starch[7]. Rather small, it is usually less than 15mm in diameter[8].
Medicinal: The plant has been pulverized into a salve and applied to scrofulous swellings[9].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ Reed, David. Lilies and Related Plants. 1989.
- ↑ Grey, Charles. Hardy Bulbs. Williams & Norgate, 1938.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Bulbs. Pan Books, 1989.
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Growing from Seed Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan, 1990.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Davis, Ray and Frank Craighead. A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. The Riverside Press, 1963.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.