PlantSnap Photos of the Week 2021

Fritillaria imperialis - Crown imperial

Fritillaria imperialis – Crown imperial

Fritillaria imperialis, the crown imperial, imperial fritillary or Kaiser’s crown, is a species of flowering plant in the lily family, native to a wide stretch from the Anatolian plateau of Turkey, Iraq and Iran to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern India and the Himalayan foothills. It is also widely cultivated as an ornamental and reportedly naturalized in Austria, Sicily, and Washington State, USA.  The common names and also the epithet “imperialis”, literally “of the emperor”, refer to the large circle of golden flowers, reminiscent of an emperor’s crown.

Fritillaria imperialis grows to about 1 m (3 ft) in height, and bears lance-shaped, glossy leaves at intervals along the stem. It bears a prominent whorl of downward facing flowers at the top of the stem, topped by a ‘crown’ of small leaves, hence the name. While the wild form is usually orange-red, various colours are found in cultivation, ranging from nearly a true scarlet through oranges to yellow.