Fritillaria pudica explained
Fritillaria pudica, the yellow fritillary, is a small perennial plant[1] found in the sagebrush country in the western United States (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, very northern California, Nevada, northwestern Colorado, North Dakota and Utah) and Canada (Alberta and British Columbia).[2] [3] It is a member of the lily family Liliaceae. Another common (but somewhat ambiguous) name is "yellow bells", since it has a bell-shaped yellow flower. It may be found in dryish, loose soil; it is amongst the first plants to flower after the snow melts, but the flower does not last very long; as the petals age, they turn a brick-red colour and begin to curl outward.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] The flowers grow singly or in pairs on the stems, and the floral parts grow in multiples of threes.[9] The species produces a small corm, which forms corms earning the genus the nickname 'riceroot'. During his historic journey, Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen while passing through Idaho in 1806.[10]
The corm can be dug up and eaten fresh or cooked; it served Native Americans as a good source of food in times past,[11] and is still eaten occasionally. Today these plants are not common, so digging and eating the corms is not encouraged. The plant is called pronounced as /[ˈsɨkni]/ in Sahaptin.
External links
Notes and References
- Barker, Joan. The Ultimate Guide To Wildflowers of North America, page 54, Parragon, 2013
- http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=306836 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Fritillaria%20pudica.png Biota of North America Project
- http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?8349,8560,8578 Jepson Manual Treatment
- http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101628 Flora of North America
- http://www.botanicus.org/page/818004 Sprengel, Curt Polycarp Joachim. 1825. Systema Vegetabilium, editio decima sexta 2: 64. Fritillaria pudica
- http://www.botanicus.org/page/396649 Pursh, Frederick Traugott. 1814. Flora Americae Septentrionalis 1: 228, pl. 8, as Lilium pudicum
- Gandoger, Michel 1920. Bulletin de la Société Botanique de France. Paris vol 66 as Fritillaria dichroa, Fritillaria leucella, Fritillaria oregonensis, Fritillaria oreodoxa, Fritillaria utahensis, Fritillaria washingtonensis
- Book: Taylor, Ronald J.. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary. Mountain Press Pub. Co. 1994. 0-87842-280-3. rev.. Missoula, MT. 78. en. 25708726. 1992.
- Schiemann, Donald Anthony, Wildflowers of Montana, page 134. Mountain Press Publishing Company, Missoula,2005.
- Book: Fagan, Damian. Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. FalconGuides. 2019. 978-1-4930-3633-2. Guilford, CT. 129. 1073035766.
