Fritillaria gentneri

This lily-like plant has 1/2 inch long (4 cm) deep red to maroon flared bell-shaped flowers with yellow mottling on flowering stems that grow up to 28 inches tall (70 cm). Stamens are shorter than petals. Stems and leaves are waxy bluish green to purple mottled. Leaves usually grow in two whorls of three with additional scattered pairs along the stem; the largest nearest the base are up to 6 inches long (15 cm) by 1/2 inch wide (1.5 cm). Nonflowering individuals are recognizable only by their single basal leaves. The dry capsule is roundish with broad thin papery edges.

Deep red to maroon flared bell-shaped flowers with yellow mottling, and its tall stature up to 28 inches (70 cm) tall. Individuals of this species can be distinguished from similar congeners by comparing the nectary gland length/tepal length ratio and the extent of style branching. The nectaries of F. gentneri generally extend ¼ to ½ the length of the tepals, while those of F. recurva extend ¼ or less, and the long glands of F. affinis extend ½ or more of the tepal length. The style of F. affinis is divided for ½ of its length or more, with widely spreading branches, while only the tip (¼ 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 ½ the length of the style. These two characters, when evaluated in combination with flower color (scarlet in F. recurva, maroon in F. gentneri, and purplish-brown in F. affinis), adequately differentiate these three species.

This species occurs on dry hillsides in open canopies of oak and mixed-species woodlands and chaparral shrub communities, mixed hardwood forests, coniferous forests and grasslands at elevations from 300 to 1,230 m (USFWS 2003, 2016). The plant appears to have specific moisture and light requirements that may be provided by a variety of habitat types or successional stages, and has been reported in association with sixteen habitat types: Oregon white oak woodland; Oregon white oak - Douglas fir ecotone; Dry Douglas fir forest; Moist riparian Douglas fir - white fir forest; Mixed hardwood / conifer with black oak, Oregon white oak, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, and wedgeleaf ceanothus - whiteleaf manzanita in shrub layer; Oregon white oak / birchleaf mahogany - wedgeleaf ceanothus ecotonal chaparral; Ponderosa pine - Douglas fir forest; Oregon white oak / wedgeleaf ceanothus dry chaparral; Black oak forest with silktassle, poison oak, mountain mahogany, serpentine influence; Grassland / meadow; Moist riparian shrub community; Moist chaparral with black oak, silktassle, birchleaf mountain mahogany, whiteleaf manzanita, serpentine influence; Jeffrey pine - whiteleaf manzanita serpentine site; Ecotone between Oregon white oak / serviceberry chaparral and white fir - Douglas fir forest; Oregon white oak / Klamath plum woodland; and Opening in white fir - Douglas fir forest (Brock and Callagan 2001 cited by USFWS 2003).

The species flowers sparingly, with less than 1 to 3.1 percent of plants flowering in any one year. The number of flowering plants can fluctuate and the cause is not certain. Flowers are believed to be self-incompatible. Each year the plant produce “rice-grain” bulblets from its bulb (USFWS 2016).