Fritillaria meleagris
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Fritillaria meleagris is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae.<ref>Pavlov, N.V. (ed.) (1958). Flora Kazakhstana 2: 1-290. Alma-Ata, Izd-vo Akademii nauk Kazakhskoi SSR.</ref><ref>Malyschev L.I. & Peschkova, G.A. (eds.) (2001). Flora of Siberia 4: 1-238. Scientific Publishers, Inc., Enfield, Plymouth.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its common names include snake's head fritillary, snake's head (the original English name), chess flower, frog-cup, guinea-hen flower, guinea flower, leper lily (because its shape resembled the bell once carried by lepers), Lazarus bell, chequered lily, chequered daffodil, drooping tulip or, in the British Isles, simply fritillary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The plant is a bulbous perennial<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> native to the flood river plains of Europe where it grows in abundance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Etymology
The Latin specific epithet meleagris means "spotted like a guineafowl".<ref name="RHS">Template:Cite web</ref> The common name "snake's head" probably refers to the somewhat snakelike appearance of the nodding flower heads, especially when in bud, on their long stems.
Description and habitat
The flower has a chequered pattern in shades of purple, or is sometimes pure white.<ref name="RHS"/> It flowers from March to May and grows between Template:Convert in height. The plant has a button-shaped bulb, about Template:Convert in diameter, containing poisonous alkaloids. It grows in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows at altitudes up to Template:Convert.
Distribution
Fritillaria meleagris is native to Europe and western Asia but in many places it is an endangered species that is rarely found in the wild but is commonly grown in gardens. In Croatia, the flower is known as Template:Lang and is associated by some with the country's national symbol.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref> It is the official flower of the Swedish province of Uppland, where it grows in large numbers every spring in the meadows of Kungsängen (“King’s Meadow”), just outside Uppsala, which gives the flower its Swedish name, Template:Lang (“king's meadow lily”). It is also found, for example, in Sandemar Nature Reserve, a nature reserve west of Dalarö in the Stockholm Archipelago.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom there is some disagreement amongst botanists as to whether F. meleagris is a native species or a long-established garden escapee that has become naturalised over time. The plant was first described in the 16th century by herbalist John Gerard who had known of it only as a garden plant, and it was not recorded in the wild until 1736, which has led some to argue that it must be an escapee.<ref name="Mabey">Template:Cite web</ref> However, the fact that its habitat is usually confined to ancient hay meadows, and it does not easily spread to adjoining land, leads others to the conclusion that it is a native species which became isolated from the European population when Britain was cut off from mainland Europe after the last glacial period.<ref name="Mabey"/> Clive Stace (2010) says that it is "doubtfully native".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The plant was once abundant in the UK, particularly in the Thames Valley and parts of Wiltshire, and was collected in vast quantities to be sold as a cut flower in the markets of London, Oxford and Birmingham. During World War II most of the ancient meadows were ploughed up and turned over to the production of food crops, destroying much of the plant's habitat.<ref name="Mabey"/> A popular garden plant, it is now rare in the wild, although there are some notable sites where it is still found, such as the meadows at Magdalen College, Iffley Meadows,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oxford and the Oxfordshire village of Ducklington,<ref name="Mabey"/> which holds a "Fritillary Sunday" festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is also found in the North Meadow National Nature Reserve, Wiltshire, Clattinger Farm Nature Reserve, Wiltshire,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on Portholme in Cambridgeshire<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Fox Fritillary Meadow and Mickfield Meadow nature reserves in Suffolk.<ref name=sssiffm>Fox Fritillary Meadow, Framsden Template:Webarchive, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-05-30.</ref><ref name=swtffm>Fox Fritillary Meadow, Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2013-05-30.</ref><ref name=sssimm>Mickfield Meadow Template:Webarchive, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-05-30.</ref> In 2002 it was chosen as the County flower of Oxfordshire following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife.<ref>Plantlife website County Flowers page Template:Webarchive</ref>
Cultivation
Now easily available as an ornamental spring bulb for the garden, it is commonly sold as a mixture of different coloured cultivars. The species<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the pure white-flowered variety F. meleagris var. unicolor subvar. alba<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Pests
Like many plants in the lily family, F. meleagris is susceptible to the scarlet lily beetle, which can seriously damage or kill it. But deer and rabbits do not damage the plant.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Diseases
Fritillaria meleagris is generally disease free.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>
Uses
Fritillaria meleagris is used for landscaping, gardening and horticulture in a variety of planting situations, such as in: borders, containers, cottage and informal gardens, woodland gardens, wildflower meadows, rock gardens or naturalized areas.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gallery
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Botanical garden KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany -
At Audubon's marsh, West France
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In Sandemar beach meadows, west of Dalarö, Sweden
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Ripe fruit
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At Ovčar-Kablar Gorge, Serbia
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