Early-flowering Fritillaria species and their hardiness
Jane McGary (Sun, 09 Mar 2014 12:36:02 PDT)

Makiko asked,

It is Fritillaria gentneri, a natural hybrid between Fritillaria
recurva and Fritillaria affinis. (Perhaps it should be called F. x
gentneri?) It can be seen not only in Jacksonville but also in other
places in that part of southern Oregon. The populations show quite a
bit of variation, ranging from flowers that look just like F. recurva
to those that are much darker and larger and not recurved, showing
more influence of F. affinis. It is a listed species and therefore
cannot be sold in Oregon, which is too bad because it would be
extremely easy to propagate selected clones from the hundreds of
"rice grain" bulblets that mature bulbs produce. The main threat to
the existence of the wild plants is deer, which have been excluded
from some Fritillaria populations.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA