About Fritillaria recurva Benth.
Fritillaria recurva Benth. is a bulb-forming perennial herb. Its leaves are arranged in whorls, and range in shape from linear to narrowly lanceolate. The tepals are scarlet, with yellow checkered patterns on their inner surface, and form a nodding, pendent bell shape. The Latin specific epithet "recurva" means "bent backwards". After flowering, the plant produces a winged capsule as fruit. This species blooms from June to October, roughly two weeks earlier than the related species Fritillaria gentneri, which has a different reddish flower color. Across its entire distribution, Fritillaria recurva can be told apart from other Fritillaria species by its scarlet flower color, yellow checkering on the inside of the flower, and recurved tepals. However, hybridization between the 10 recognized Fritillaria species can make identifying individual species challenging. In southwest Oregon, Fritillaria recurva closely resembles the rare Fritillaria gentneri. Fritillaria gentneri can be distinguished from Fritillaria recurva by its branched style and longer nectary glands.
