Fritillaria I/D

[Gerry Webster]

Thanks Gerry and Ian.  The colour of the leaves are just like Galanthus elwesii leaves.  In the photo below I have added a Fritillaria meleagris for size comparison.

That's helpful Gunilla. I now think Ian is right - F. tubiformis.

[Ian Y]

I was going to suggest thessala as I've never seen tesselation on pontica but when the BD has spoken......one tends to keep one's own mouth closed. Roll Eyes

Oh Lesley the BD is as good as getting it wrong as any one.

Gerry and Lesley, I would agree that thessala is a possibility as well, I have seen some pontica seedlings where it is difficult to decide where 'tinged with reddish brown' stops and 'tesselation' begins. The necteries well tell for sure.

Gunilla From the scale picture I am still sure that youir plant is F. tubiformis.
check out these pictures from bulb log 16

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Apr211271856028BULB_LOG__16.pdf

and there are more in bulb log 17.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Apr211271856028BULB_LOG__16.pdf

[Otto Fauser]

Mark
It looks like Fritillaria pontica, check and see if it has dark round nectaries that will confirm it.

This plant seems to be lightly tessellated so my guess would be F. thessala. If so, the nectaries will be ovate to ovate-lanceolate.

        It looks like my thessala , a very vigorous species in the garden , Otto.

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks everyone, it seems that I probably have F. thessala, glad to have a name on it (even if tentative), after all these years.  I include two cut-away views of the flower to show the nectaries.

[Gerry Webster]

Thanks everyone, it seems that I probably have F. thessala, glad to have a name on it (even if tentative), after all these years.  I include two cut-away views of the flower to show the nectaries.

The ovate nectaries seem consistent with F. thessala. I think in F. pontica they are usually more definitely circular. Nice photos!

[TheOnionMan]

Thanks everyone, it seems that I probably have F. thessala, glad to have a name on it (even if tentative), after all these years.  I include two cut-away views of the flower to show the nectaries.

The ovate nectaries seem consistent with F. thessala. I think in F. pontica they are usually more definitely circular. Nice photos!

Thanks Gerry, glad there wasn't too much dirt under my fingernails in those shots

[Mike Ireland]

Could anyone help with the I/D for this fritillaria.  Approx 6 - 8 inches tall.  The stem leaves are opposite & narrow if this helps.

Mike

[Gerry Webster]

Mike - my first thought, based on flower colour, was F. drenovskii but I have never seen one with such flared flowers before - they are usually fairly narrow. My second thought, based on the flared flower coupled with the yellow tips to the tepals,  was F. rhodokanakis but my (limited) experience of this is of a much darker flower colour. The flower colour is also reminiscent of some forms of F. messanensis subsp. gracilis but the flaring seems inconsistent with this.The infinitely variable F. pinardii might be a possibility but the narrow leaves suggest not. So, I remain puzzled & there are no doubt possibilities I haven't thought of.  I'd be interested to see the opinions of others. It would be useful to have some idea of scale - how large is the flower (it looks quite small) - & what does it look like inside?

[Tony Garthwaite]

Hi! In answer to your query, the flower was about 2 cm long. the height (in pot) was about 11 inches with two pairs of alternate narrow, (4mm) leaves and three just below the flower.
Mike put the query up on my behalf and I'll put 2 more images up at the weekend if they will help.

[Gerry Webster]

Tony - a good image of the inside of the flower would be helpful. Was the flower flared from the start  or did it develop as it aged? Do you know where the plant came from? The whorl of 3 leaves below the flower together with the colour suggests F. messanensis subsp. gracilis, though the flower is on the small side for this sp. I wonder whether the flower is malformed? Is this the first flowering?