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Liliaceae FAMILY

Fritillaria affinis

Fritillaria affinis

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Fritillaria affinis is a plant of mediterranean-type climates, with most rain in the winter and early spring whilst the summers are hot and dry; it is found at low to medium elevations. A woodland plant, preferring light soils[1]. It is best grown in a well-drained sandy woodland soil, and strongly dislikes summer wet[2, 3, 4]. Plants are best grown in a bulb frame and kept rather dry in summer[3]. Water should be withheld in summer or hot spells[5]. A very ornamental and polymorphic plant[1]. The variety Fritillaria affinis var. tristulis (A.L.Grant ex Jeps.) ined. is a triploid form that is exceptionally large flowered, robust and more easily cultivated than the species[3]. The edible bulbs can be harvested before flowering in the spring, or after flowering in late summer or autumn. They grow relatively close to the surface and are easily extracted[6]. Plants flower within 3 - 5 years from seed[5].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a well-drained, sandy or gritty soil in a cold frame, it should germinate in the spring[1]. Protect from frost[4]. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible and can take a year or more to germinate[4]. 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[7]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Fritillaria+affinis>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  2. [2]Hardy Bulbs.; Including Half-hardy Bulbs and Tuberous and Fiberous-rooted Plants — Grey. C. H. · Williams & Norgate. · 1938 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather dated now, but an immense work on bulbs for temperate zones and how to grow them. Three large volumes.
  3. [3]Bulbs — Phillips. R. and Rix. M. · Pan Books · 1989 · ISBN 0-330-30253-1 ↩︎Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.
  4. [4]Growing from Seed. Volume 2. — Rice. G. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. An interesting article on Ensete ventricosum.
  5. [5]Growing from Seed. Volume 4. — Bird. R. (Editor) · Thompson and Morgan. · 1990 · ISBN - ↩︎Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.
  6. [6]Plants Database — United States Department of Agriculture · http://plants.usda.gov/java/factSheet ↩︎An online database with an excellent collection of fact sheets about native N. American plants.
  7. [7]Lilies and Related Plants. — RHS Lily Group. ↩︎Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)
  8. [8]Flora of N. America — http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/fna/ ↩︎An on-line version of the flora with an excellent description of the plant including a brief mention of plant uses.
  9. [9]Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. — Hitchcock. C. L. · University of Washington Press · 1955 · ISBN - ↩︎A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  11. [11]Food Plants of the N. American Indians. — Yanovsky. E. · U.S. Depf of Agriculture. · ISBN - ↩︎A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader.
  12. [12]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  13. [13]Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples — Turner. N. J. · UBC Press. Vancouver. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7748-0533-1 ↩︎Excellent little handbook about the native food plants of Western Canada. Good descriptions of the plants and their uses with colour photos of most plants.
  14. [14]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.