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Liliaceae FAMILY

Fritillaria pudica

Fritillaria pudica

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitBulb
Growth—

Fritillaria pudicais a plant of the temperate zone, growing in areas with cold winters and warm, dry summers. The plants are usually covered with snow in winter, with much of the moisture required for growth coming from the melt water. This is a difficult plant to grow unless similar conditions to its natural habitat can be provided. It is best grown on a gritty well-drained sunny bank[1]. Plants must be kept dry in the summer[2, 3]. A very variable[4] and ornamental plant[5], but it is not easy to grow outdoors, though it has lived a long time in a bulb frame[2]. Flowers are produced in 4 - 6 years from seed[6]. The bulb produces bulbils freely[2].

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[7]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Fritillaria+pudica>

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]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.
  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]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.
  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]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.
  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]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.
  9. [9]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]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.
  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]A Field Guide to Rocky Mountain Wildflowers — Craighead. J., Craighead. F. and Davis. R. · The Riverside Press · 1963 · ISBN 63-7093 ↩︎Excellent little pocket guide to the area, covering 590 species and often giving details of their uses.
  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.