''Fritillaria striata'', the striped adobe lily, is an uncommon species of

fritillary ''Fritillaria'' (fritillaries) is a genus of spring flowering herbaceous bulbous perennial plants in the lily family (Liliaceae). The type species, ''Fritillaria meleagris'', was first described in Europe in 1571, while other species from the ...

.Calflora: ''Fritillaria striata''
. accessed 4.16.2015

Distribution

The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, USA, where it is known only from the southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

foothills in

Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...

and

Tulare County Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes. ...

, and east of the

Tejon Hills The Tejon Hills are a low mountain range in the Transverse Ranges, in southern Kern County, California. The highest point of the hills is Comanche Mountain, at in elevation. They are completely within property owned by the Tejon Ranch corporatio ...

in the

Tehachapi Mountains The Tehachapi Mountains (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately in southern Kern County and northwest ...

foothills, on the

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

in Kern County. It grows in

adobe clay Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ea ...

soils.

Description

''Fritillaria striata'' produces an erect stem 25 to 40 centimeters tall, bearing pairs of long oval-shaped leaves 6 to 7 centimeters long. The nodding flower is a bell-shaped, fragrant bloom with six light pink

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s each striped with darker pink. The tips roll back. In the darker center of the flower is a greenish-yellow

nectary Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

surrounded by yellow

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

Conservation

The main threat to the plant is cattle grazing, wild pigs, and

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

of grasses. ''Fritillaria striata'' is listed by the State of California as a

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...

, and is on the

California Native Plant Society The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization (501(c)3) that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to con ...

Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California The ''CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California'' is a botanical online database providing information on rare, threatened, and endangered California native plants. It is sponsored by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS). ...

'', listed as seriously endangered in California.California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants: ''Fritillaria striata'
. accessed April 16, 2015

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Fritillaria striata'' (striped adobe lily)Jepson Manual (TJM93) Treatment of ''Fritillaria striata''USDA Plants Profile for ''Fritillaria striata'' (striped adobe lily)''Fritillaria striata'' — UC Photos gallery
striata Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Kern County, California ~ {{liliales-stub