Fritillaria verticillata Willd.

Martyn Rix (pers. comm.) notes that Fritillaria verticillata commonly has an inflorescence with only one flower, and that reports of several-flowered plants are the result of longstanding confusion between this species and F. thunbergii. Rix also notes that F. albidoflora may be distinct from F. verticillata differing as follows: flowers opening nearly flat (vs. campanulate), tepals 2--3 cm (vs. 3--5 cm), and nectaries orbicular (vs. ovate), ca. 6 mm above base of tepal.

Bulb of 2 scales, ca. 2 cm in diam. Stem 15--50 cm. Leaves rather densely arranged, basal 2 opposite, others in whorls of 4--7; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate to linear, 5--9 cm × 2--10 mm, apex strongly cirrose. Inflorescence 1--5-flowered; bracts 2 or 3, apex strongly cirrose. Flowers nodding, campanulate; pedicel 1--2 cm. Tepals white or pale yellow, occasionally tinged with pale purple, oblong-elliptic, 2--5 × 1.5--2 cm; nectaries ovate, projecting at a right angle abaxially. Stamens 1--2.5 cm; filaments dilated proximally, glabrous. Style 3-lobed, lobes 2--4 mm. Capsule winged; wings 2--4 mm wide. Fl. Apr--Jun, fr. Jul. 2 n = 24*.

NW Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Russia (W Siberia)].

Hill thickets, gravelly meadows; 1300--2000 m.

Fritillaria albidoflora X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. albidoflora var. jimunaica (X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng) X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. albidoflora var. purpurea X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. albidoflora var. rhodanthera X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. amoena C. Y. Yang; F. borealixingjiangensis Y. K. Yang et al.; F. heboksarensis X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. tortifolia X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng var. albiflora X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. tortifolia var. citrina X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. tortifolia var. parviflora X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng; F. verticillata var. jimunaica X. Z. Duan & X. J. Zheng.

Fritillaria verticillata is a flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae, native to Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and the Altay region of Siberia.

It can grow to 60 cm (23.5 in) tall, usually with one flower at the top, but sometimes with as many as five. The leaves are mostly in whorls, with 4-7 leaves per node, each up to 10 cm long but rarely more than 10 mm across. The flowers are pendent, nodding, bell-shaped, white or pale yellow, sometimes with purple spots.

It formerly included the variety Fritillaria verticillata var. thunbergii - now called Fritillaria thunbergii.