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Liliaceae FAMILY Vulnerable

Fritillaria cirrhosa

Fritillaria cirrhosa

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
4/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Fritillaria cirrhosa is a plant of the temperate zone, growing in an area with cool summers and summer rainfall plus dry winters that can be cool or cold. Plants dislike high winter rainfall. Succeeds in a well-drained loamy soil[1]. Grows in the wild in light, sandy or medium loam well-drained acidic soils, preferring open sunny areas with moderate slopes that are rich in humus[2]. Prefers peat bed conditions, the plant should not be allowed to dry out[3]. The plant is in cultivation at Kew[1] and thriving in a sunny stony bed at Keillour Castle in Perthshire[4], this species does not, however, do well in all gardens[5]. The species is very slow-growing, taking at least 5 years from seed before it is large enough to flower[2]. It is longlived and has a generation length of 7.5 - 8.75 years. Reproductive constraints and long life cycle are well recognized in the species[2]. This species is closely related to Fritillaria meleagris[1].

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[5]. Protect from frost[3]. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible and can take a year or more to germinate[3]. 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[5]. 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[6]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Fritillaria+cirrhosa>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  3. [3]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.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]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 ]).
  6. [6]Lilies and Related Plants. — RHS Lily Group. ↩︎Lots of interesting snippets about plants in the family Liliaceae (in the old, broad sense)
  7. [7]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  8. [8]Non-Timber Forest Products of Nepal Himalaya - database of some important species found in the mountain protected ar — Ghimire S.K. et al · WWF Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal · 2008 · ISBN 978-99946-837-9-6 ↩︎
  9. [9]The Gardens' Bulletin Straits Settlements Vol VI — Singapore Botanic Gardens; Singapore. · 1930 ↩︎A botanical publication of Singapore Botanic Gardens, with a range of articles. This one focuses on the medicinal plants of the region.
  10. [10]Alpine Plants of China. — Zhang Jingwei. · Gordon & Breach. New York. · 1982 · ISBN 0-677-60190-5 ↩︎A lovely book with nice pictures. Gives habitats and some details of plant uses.
  11. [11]Plants and People of Nepal — Manandhar. N. P. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 2002 · ISBN 0-88192-527-6 ↩︎Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.
  12. [12]Ethnic Food Plants and Ethnic Food Preparation in Western and Central Himalayas — Ballabh B. & Pullaiah T. · Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada · 2018 · ISBN 978-1-77188-550- ↩︎
  13. [13]Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica — Bensky D., Clavey S. & Stöger E. · Eastland Press Inc; Seattle, USA · 2004 · ISBN 0-939616-4-24 ↩︎
  14. [14]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
  15. [15]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  16. [16]Indian Medicinal Plants; An Illustrated Dictionary — Khare C.P. (Ed.) · Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg · 2007 · ISBN 978-0-387-70637-5 ↩︎
  17. [17]A cross-cultural analysis of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (India) medicinal plant use — Gairola S. et al · 2014 · http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.029 ↩︎
  18. [18]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  19. [19]Medicinal Plants of China — Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. · Reference Publications, Inc. · 1985 · ISBN 0-917256-20-4 ↩︎Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
  20. [20]Traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of genus Fritillaria - a review — Rashid I. & Yaqoob U. · 2021 · https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-021-00577-z ↩︎