Fritillaria gentneri

Gentner's fritillary

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1 · Endangered

Gentner's fritillary is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native perennial found in the Cascade Range and High Sierra Nevada in dry woodland at elevations of 300 to 1,500 meters. Flowering in April, this plant produces nodding bell-shaped flowers with blue-red or purple perianth parts checkered in yellow, creating a distinctive mottled appearance. Growing 50 to 70 centimeters tall with a large bulb and stems bearing whorls of 3 to 5 leaves below and alternate leaves above, it develops widely linear to lanceolate leaves up to 15 centimeters long. Its leaves are arranged in distinctive whorls, with lower leaves clustered in groups of 3 to 5 and upper leaves alternating along the stem. The distinctive flower features a yellow linear nectary and perianth parts that spread dramatically, with style branches spreading or slightly recurved.

Habitat: dry woodland

Bloom period: Apr

Elevation: 300-1500 m

Bioregions: CaRH

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