Fritillaria recurva

Scarlet fritillary

Family: Liliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Scarlet fritillary is a California native perennial found in northwestern coastal California, the Cascade Range, and Sierra Nevada mountains in dry hillsides within scrub and woodland habitats at elevations of 300 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces striking scarlet flowers with yellow checkered interiors and recurved tips, creating dramatic nodding blooms 1.5 to 3.7 centimeters long. Growing 3 to 9 decimeters tall with a large underground bulb, the plant develops distinctive whorled leaves in 1 to 3 clusters of 2 to 5 leaves below the stem and alternate leaves above. Its leaves are linear to narrowly lanceolate, measuring 3 to 15 centimeters in length, arranged in an elegant vertical arrangement. The fruit is distinctively winged, completing the plant's unique botanical profile.

Habitat: Common. Dry hillsides in scrub or woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 300-2200 m

Bioregions: NW (NCo?), CaR, SN

California counties: Lake, Siskiyou, Butte, Napa, Mendocino, Plumas, Placer, Shasta, Tehama, Trinity, Sonoma, Lassen, Modoc, Sierra, El Dorado, Glenn, Mariposa, Nevada, Colusa, Yuba, Humboldt, Kern, Solano

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