Fritillaria meleagris

Scientific profile

Fritillaria meleagris is a herbaceous, non-woody perennial reaching about 0.23–0.24 m in height. The leaves are broad and the plant has a terrestrial habit. Its bell-shaped flowers, often patterned with a distinct chequerboard of purple and pinkish-white, appear from April to May. Diaspores are small, averaging 2.1 mg. The species prefers full sun and a moisture-retentive, calcareous to basic soil of moderate fertility; it tolerates only low disturbance (severity 0.56) and grows best under moderately warm temperatures. Derived habitat associations point to moderately lean fresh meadows and arable weed communities. In Great Britain it is an introduced, established neophyte, long naturalised in damp grasslands and floodplain meadows.