Fritillaria agrestis

Stinkbells

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.2

Stinkbells is a California native perennial found in the Mendocino County coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, Central Valley, and central western California in clay habitats, often on vertic soils, at elevations below 500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces green-white and yellow flowers with purple-brown interior surfaces, hanging in distinctive nodding positions. Growing with tall stems 30 to 60 centimeters high, it develops from a large bulb with multiple scales. Its leaves are linear to lance-oblong, 5 to 15 centimeters long, alternately arranged and densely clustered below the middle of the stem. The flower features a prominent green nectary extending two-thirds the length of its perianth, giving the plant its distinctive and somewhat ill-scented character.

Habitat: Clay, often vertic, occasionally serpentine

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 500 m

Bioregions: NCoRO (Mendocino Co.), SNF, GV, CW.

California counties: Tulare, San Mateo, Monterey, Placer, Stanislaus, Fresno, Alameda, Mariposa, Yolo, Kern, Ventura, San Benito, Butte, Contra Costa, Mendocino, Merced, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Glenn, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Solano, Colusa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.