Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Fritillaria liliacea, commonly known as Fragrant Fritillary, is a threatened perennial herb in the Liliaceae family. The range of this wildflower is over parts of southwestern Northern California, USA, especially Solano and Sonoma Counties and at coastal locations south to Monterey County; occurrence is typically in open hilly grasslands at altitudes less than 200 meters in elevation. The bell-shaped white flowers have greenish stripes and are set on a nodding pedicel of about 37 centimeters in height. The blossoms are odorless to faintly fragrant. F. liliacea prefers heavy soils including clays; for example, andesitic and basaltic soils derived from the Sonoma Volcanic soil layers are suitable substrate for this species. This California endemic has been a candidate for listing as a U.S. Federally endangered species, and some of the remaining fragmented colonies are at risk of local extinction, such that the species is considered locally endangered. Example occurrences are: Edgewood Park in San Mateo County and the Sonoma Mountains foothills in Sonoma County. Examples of highly fragmented or extirpated colonies are in San Francisco due to urban development.

Plant type

Perennial herb, Geophyte

Size

1 ft Tall

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Color

White, Green

Special uses

Containers

Sun

Full Sun

Water

Low, Moderate, High

Propagation

For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Site type

places with heavy soils

Plant communities

Coastal Prairie, Northern Coastal Scrub, Valley Grassland, Wetland-Riparian