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FRITILLARIA SPECIES: R - S
Each species has been assigned a Cultivation Group, either A, B, C, or D. To view descriptions of these groups, click on Cultivation Groups or scroll to the bottom of this page where they are repeated.
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Fritillaria raddeana A beautiful tall species similar in habit to F imperialis but with green flowers sometimes marked with brown on the outside. NE Iran and adjacent Turkmenistan in stony soil.
Cultivation: Easy to grow but a bit too big for a pot. It does well in a raised bed under cover and will grow outside in the garden in a well drained spot. |
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Fritillaria recurva Unmistakeable with its bright red flowers and whorled leaves. It inhabits wood margins and scrub in semi shade which gets quite dry in summer.
Cultivation Group: A It seems to do better in slightly acid soil and can be grown in a pot or in a raised bed under cover. |
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Fritillaria regelii Something of a mystery plant with dark purplish flowers and glaucous leaves which are in a group in the centre of the stem. It comes from the southern Pamir Alai range in Central Asia.
We have no experience of growing this but it comes from the same area as F bucharica and F olgae so it may require similar conditions. |
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Fritillaria reuteri can be easily recognised from its purplish brown flowers on tall stems and its narrow leaves. It has two bract leaves at the base of each pedicel which serves to identify it from others with a similar flower. It is only known from some high mountains west of Esfahan in Iran where it grows in very wet soils which are often in running surface water at flowering time.
Cultivation Group: B It is easy to grow in a pot with plenty of water in the growing season, drier in the summer. |
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Fritillaria rhodia Endemic to Rhodes. With its slender style and greenish yellow flowers it seems very similar to F mughlae, which grows nearby but on the Turkish coast but the style is smooth compared to the markedly papillose one of the latter. It usually grows in open stony places.
Cultivation Group: A but it is rarely grown. It may require frost-free conditions. |
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Fritillaria rhodocanakis Its striking deep brown, yellow tipped flowers can be seen in vast numbers on the island of Ydra off the Argolian coast of Greece but it is endemic to this and a few nearby islets, being replaced by its subspecies argolica on the mainland and by F spetsiotica on nearby Spetse island.
Cultivation Group: A |
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Fritillaria rixii This is like a narrow-leaved version of F euboica and considered by some to be synonymous with it. It occupies lower sites which are slightly further west on the island of Evvia than the latter and the area is shadier through tree cover.
Cultivation Group: A Easy to grow. |
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Fritillaria roylei Quite a tall plant with 5 – whorls of leaves up the stem without coiled tips. Widely distributed in northern India and adjacent Himalayan kingdoms where it grows in lush meadows, in scrub or openings in the forest.
Cultivation: It is one of the easier species to grow and can be grown in the garden where it cannot dry out in summer. |
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Fritillaria ruthenica The combination of its blackish flowers tesselated with greenish-yellow inside, the narrow leaves which end in tendrils which are used in the wild for support in the shrubs through which it climbs and the winged capsule are the distinguishing features. It has a very wide distribution from eastern Europe through central Asia and into NW China.
Cultivation Group: B Quite an easy plant to grow. |
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Fritillaria serpenticola The little deep yellow conical flowers and 4 or occasionally 5 grey-green leaves set it apart from all the other species except F carica. The flowers of the latter are more tubular and the style is much stouter and coarsely papillose. It is an exclusive endemic to bare serpentinite summits in western Turkey.
Cultivation Group: B in a pot under glass. |
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Fritillaria sewerzowii The only member of subgenus Korolkowia and instantly recognisable from its spirally arranged leaves with numerous brown to green or even yellow flowers in a raceme each with versatile anthers. It grows in the western Pamir Alai and nearby ranges of central Asia.
Cultivation Group: B Easy to cultivate but perhaps a bit large for a pot though many do grow it in one. Try it in a raised bed which can be covered in the summer. |
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Fritillaria shikokiana This is the only Japanese species with narrowly campanulate tesselated flowers and light blue anthers.
Cultivation Group: D |
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Fritillaria sibthorpiana This subspecies has bright yellow flowers and characteristically just two leaves, the lower one is broad and there is a smaller bract leaf. Endemic to the coastal hills SW of Marmaris in SW Turkey, it grows in scrub in partial shade on limestone.
Cultivation Group: A |
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Fritillaria sichuanica Similar to F cirrhosa but the flowers are smaller and narrower with a single bract leaf without a coiled tip. Mountain thickets and mountain slopes.
Cultivation: We have no experience of growing this species but it should be suited by Group D. |
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Fritillaria sinica The few lanceolate leaves which are mostly in pairs serve to distinguish this Chines species from others in the group. The flowers are single and clearly tesselated. Hilly grassland and thickets.
Cultivation Group: D |
Sorry, we have no photo of this species. Could you provide one?
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Fritillaria sonnikoviae One of the Siberian members of the Liliorhiza subgenus with multi-scaled bulbs. The flowers are yellow but otherwise very similar to F dagana which occurs nearby.
Cultivation: It is not in cultivation but Group D may suit as long as it is kept constantly cold in winter. |
Sorry, we have no photo of this species. Could you provide one?
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Fritillaria sororum This is like a tesselated form of F acmopetala. It can have slightly coiled leaf tips but this is not constant. Southern Turkey in scrub.
Cultivation Group: A Easy to grow |
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Fritillaria spetsiotica Indistinguishable from F rhodocanakis subsp argolica
Cultivation Group: A |
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Fritillaria sporadum This is a very recently described species from a single Sporadean islet. The flowers are conical and dark black-brown and the stigma is 3-fid showing that it is very similar to F obliqua but it has rather square-shaped flowers.
Cultivation: As far as we know this is not in cultivation but Group A seems to offer the best chance of success. |
Sorry, we have no photo of this species. Could you provide one?
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Fritillaria stenanthera A member of the Rhinopetalum subgenus which has six nectaries of equal size and pale pink flowers which can have a dark mark inside at the base of the segments. It grows in many mountain ranges in Central Asia.
Cultivation Group: B One of the easiest of the subgenus to grow but in very good light to prevent it becoming etiolated. |
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Fritillaria straussii This can have either green or brown slightly tesselated flowers. The bright shiny green leaves are all opposite or in whorls of three. It grows in the shade of rocks and small shrubs or on shady rock ledges in stony soil which is often black with humus but quite dry even at flowering time.
Cultivation Group: B It is not an easy species to grow but it is possible in a pot, kept cool in summer. |
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Fritillaria striata The unique sweet scented white flowers with recurved tips set this apart from the rest of the genus. It is very restricted in the wild to a few places in the Greenhorn Mountains in southern California where it grows in clay grassland in a quite a dry area.
Cultivation Group: A in a deep pot in well drained compost and seems to be one that lends itself very well to being grown in Seramis. It may be better kept a bit warmer than most other members of the genus. |
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Fritillaria stribrnyi Very close to FF bithynica and ehrhartii but has brown flowers with a marked green fascia. All have a slender glabrous style but F stribrnyi is a taller plant with more leaves. Very rare in the wild having been displaced by agriculture in the European part of Turkey and adjacent Bulgaria, growing in scrub at low altitude.
Cultivation Group: A |
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Cultivation Groups
Group A
Those from a Mediterranean-type climate zone at low to medium altitude. The major precipitation is during the winter and early spring but the summer is dry. The bulbs are dormant in summer but often protected from the heat of direct sunlight by tall herbs, shade of trees or by coastal fog.
It is worth trying these in well-drained soil in the open garden but unless your climate is Mediterranean in character, dryness in the summer will usually need to be contrived by overhead protection or planting amongst established, deciduous, shrub or tree roots. These species tend to be straightforward to grow in pots with summer dryness. In the northern hemisphere, watering is best started sparingly from mid-September, increasing once the shoots appear until dormancy sets in in May.
Group B
Those from high altitude and/or inland sites. The major soil moisture in this case is provided by melting snow in the spring and, although occasional thunder storms may occur, the summers tend to be dry but not so hot. In winter the soil is normally covered in snow so the temperature and soil water content is constant for what can be 5 or 6 months of winter during which little growth occurs.
These are normally more difficult in the open garden but can be grown in gritty compost in pots in a cold greenhouse with watering as above. Some benefit from refrigeration in winter in order to maintain dormancy.
Group C
Semi Desert plants. These are from inland sites with cold dry winters, some snowfall, spring snowmelt, and then very dry summers.
In most countries these are not suitable for outdoor cultivation but they grow well in pots in gritty compost under glass. They are best kept dry until early winter when water can be given sparingly until growth appears in spring.
Group D
Those from areas with summer rainfall and cool/cold dry winters. For example, those species from the Himalayas, SW China and NE China, Japan and SE Siberia. These all grow in fairly cool conditions throughout the year, often under protective shade of shrubs or deciduous trees. Snow and snowmelt are important but so is summer rainfall. The main growing season is through spring but root growth can start during the summer, coinciding with the summer rains.
These seem to do quite well in cooler climates grown either in the open garden or in pots of gritty, humus soil, kept outside with perhaps a little protection from excessive winter rain.
Group A
Those from a Mediterranean-type climate zone at low to medium altitude. The major precipitation is during the winter and early spring but the summer is dry. The bulbs are dormant in summer but often protected from the heat of direct sunlight by tall herbs, shade of trees or by coastal fog.
It is worth trying these in well-drained soil in the open garden but unless your climate is Mediterranean in character, dryness in the summer will usually need to be contrived by overhead protection or planting amongst established, deciduous, shrub or tree roots. These species tend to be straightforward to grow in pots with summer dryness. In the northern hemisphere, watering is best started sparingly from mid-September, increasing once the shoots appear until dormancy sets in in May.
Group B
Those from high altitude and/or inland sites. The major soil moisture in this case is provided by melting snow in the spring and, although occasional thunder storms may occur, the summers tend to be dry but not so hot. In winter the soil is normally covered in snow so the temperature and soil water content is constant for what can be 5 or 6 months of winter during which little growth occurs.
These are normally more difficult in the open garden but can be grown in gritty compost in pots in a cold greenhouse with watering as above. Some benefit from refrigeration in winter in order to maintain dormancy.
Group C
Semi Desert plants. These are from inland sites with cold dry winters, some snowfall, spring snowmelt, and then very dry summers.
In most countries these are not suitable for outdoor cultivation but they grow well in pots in gritty compost under glass. They are best kept dry until early winter when water can be given sparingly until growth appears in spring.
Group D
Those from areas with summer rainfall and cool/cold dry winters. For example, those species from the Himalayas, SW China and NE China, Japan and SE Siberia. These all grow in fairly cool conditions throughout the year, often under protective shade of shrubs or deciduous trees. Snow and snowmelt are important but so is summer rainfall. The main growing season is through spring but root growth can start during the summer, coinciding with the summer rains.
These seem to do quite well in cooler climates grown either in the open garden or in pots of gritty, humus soil, kept outside with perhaps a little protection from excessive winter rain.