Fritillaria recurva, gentneri, and affinis
Hi Everyone. I finally managed to go check out the Fritillaria down in southern Oregon this past weekend. This has been on my list of things to do for about 15 years. Like they say, you’ve got to take the time or time will take you. Actually, I just made that up and I don’t think anyone says that. I digress.
I found what I think are Fritillaria recurva and Fritillaria gentneri, the later is federally endangered and also hypothesized to be some sort of fertile hybrid between F affinis and F recurva as it is somewhat intermediate between the two and grows where the ranges overlaps. From what I can find, F gentneri is found at 106 locations, all in southern Oregon within a 17 mile radius of Medford and there are a total of about 3000 plants in the wild. Several of these 106 sites have a single plant representing the site, and also many of these sites are within sightline of each other. Realistically, there are probably about 20 areas that you and I would call “sites” with more than one plant in a chunk of land. We technically visited “10” of the sites, even though I would call it one site.
Here's what the web thinks is the difference between recurve and gentneri: "The nectaries of F. gentneri generally extend 1/4 to 1/2 the length of the tepals, while those of F. recurva extend 1/4 or less, and the long glands of F. affinis extend 1/2 or more of the tepal length. The style of F. affinis is divided for 1/2 of its length or more, with widely spreading branches, while only the tip (1/4 or less) of F. recurva’s style is divided, with erect branches. The style of F. gentneri is intermediate between the two, with somewhat spreading branches extending slightly less than 1/2 the length of the style."
I doubt if my pictures are good enough to differentiate the two species, but I thought that I would share anyhow. If you have any opinions, let me know.
First, here is Fritillary affinis, which I hope everyone knows. The first is from the F gentneri site, and the others are from previous excursions.
Here’s one that I’m very confident is F recurva since it came from a location where F gentneri is not found. Stunningly beautiful in person. The picture doesn’t do it justice, nor does it show the masses of poison oak one needs to brave to get close.
Here are the possible F gentneri plants. I’m fairly confident that several are F gentneri, but, of course, I can’t confirm with certitude. Again, braving the poison oak to get these pictures.
I hope you enjoyed! I sure did
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoUser thanked peren.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
4 years agosecond pic.. i would have probably sneezed and rolled down that hill to my death .. dreaming of frits all the way ... lol ...
or it was a camera trick ...
thanks for the post ..... i noticed mine on the south side of the house seem weeks early.. and those on the north side of the house.. very close.. arent even up yet... go figure on that ...
squares are very rare in nature.. and it always fascinated me.. that the F flowers had squared on them ...
ken
- 4 years ago
I hope you will indulge a few more photos from the trip!...
Camassia leichtlinii
Plagiobothrys nothofulvus
Calypso bulbosa
It's... it's a field.
Ceanothus cuneatus
I dunno. Something in Brassicaceae.
Lithophragma parviflora
Collinsia parviflora and Plectritis congesta.
Romanzoffia californica
Iris chrysophylla.
- 4 years ago
Sythris reneformis.
Viola sheltonii
Nuttalanthus texensis.
Cynoglossum grande with a hoverfly.
QUercus chrysophylla.
Lupinus albifrons.
Arabis aculeolata.
Calochortus tolmei.
Arbutus menziesii & too much Toxicodendron! Fritillary habitat.
Primula hendersonii.
Quercus garryana with mistletoe and Ceanothus cuneatus. Such a lovely meadow.
- 4 years ago
Yeah, I couldn't recommend growing these western plants in NJ. The humidity, wet summers, very cold winters would just destroy them.
Here's a couple more photos from the trip. I just got back from a hike in the Columbia Gorge, we counted more than 50 species of flowers, but we sort of lost count and couldn't decide if seeing them from the car really counted... I'll post those after I get them organized.
Calochortus tolmei, but a pink version! Never seen it before. Or maybe it's elegans... I don't know how to tell them apart...
Lasthenia californica on top of Table Rock. Gorgeous.
Erythronium hendersonii. It was very late for these, so there were only a couple still open. This one was tiny, maybe only 5in tall.
Phacelia heterophylla.
Amsinckia and Plagiobothrys.
Ornithogalum umbellatum.... which is not native here.
Camassia leichtlinii alba.
Dichelostemma capitatum.
Ok, That's it for now. I hope you all enjoyed!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)