Fritillaria liliacea

[janemcgary]

Some years ago I shared bulbs of Fritillaria liliacea, grown from wild-collected seed, with Mark Akimoff of Illahe Rare Bulbs. I lost my plants in a move and Mark gave me some back. They're in flower now and have a purplish flush at the base of the tepals, whereas my original plants had more typical green nectaries and greenish flush. According to Jepson, the nectaries vary from green to purplish. Is it possible they react to temperature? Or should I worry about hybridization? I came up with F. liliacea x F. agrestis in the old collection, per Diana Chapman. I think all these F. biflora types probably cross readily, as witness the vigorous, fertile series of F. biflora x F. purdyi that also originated in my old place and have been widely distributed. Biflora is almost unkillable, and purdyi is all too killable.