Common Name:

General Information

Fritillaria collina is a perennial plant growing from an underground bulb around 25mm in diameter; the bulb is composed of two fleshy scales with numerous small bulblets between the scales. The flowering stem can be around 4 - 35cm tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine. It is grown as an ornamental.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

W. Asia - eastern Turkey to the Caucasus

Habitat

Forest glades and forest edges, in sub-alpine birch forests, on rocky places in sub-alpine meadows in the middle to sub-alpine belts, at elevations from 1,700 - 2,500 metres[]

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Bulb
Height	0.20 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Fritillaria collina is a plant of the temperate zone, growing in areas with cold winters and warm, dry summers. The plants are usually covered with snow in winter, with much of the moisture required for growth coming from the melt water.
This is a difficult plant to grow unless similar conditions to its natural habitat can be provided. It particularly needs to be kept cool in a slightly moist soil in the summer.

Edible Uses

The plant is eaten. The plant is called k’it’rik’oshola, while it floweres; after the petals fall a 3 - 4cm long stalk grows up and is eaten raw and immature[].
The immature fruits (seed pods?) are eaten raw at the beginning of summer in alpine areas[]

Medicinal

The bulbs are eaten as a remedy for heart ailments, and to treat hangovers[]

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as ripe in a well-drained, sandy or gritty soil in a cold frame, it should germinate in the spring[]. Protect from frost[]. Stored seed should be sown as soon as possible and can take a year or more to germinate[]. Sow the seed quite thinly to avoid the need to prick out the seedlings. Once they have germinated, give them an occasional liquid feed to ensure that they do not suffer mineral deficiency. Once they die down at the end of their second growing season, divide up the small bulbs, planting 2 - 3 to an 8cm deep pot. Grow them on for at least another year in light shade in the greenhouse before planting them out whilst dormant.
Division of offsets in August[]. The larger bulbs can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, but it is best to pot up the smaller bulbs and grow them on in a cold frame for a year before planting them out in the autumn.
Bulb scales[].