''Fritillaria thunbergii'' is a flowering plant species in the lily family Liliaceae. It is native to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and in

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

Province of western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, though cultivated in other places and naturalized in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and in other parts of

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref>Flora of China Vol. 24 Page 130 浙贝母 zhe bei mu ''Fritillaria thunbergii'' Miquel, Ann. Mus. Bot. Lugduno-Batavi. 3: 157. 1867
/ref> ''Fritillaria thunbergii'' produces

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

s up to 30 mm in diameter. The stem is up to 80 cm tall. The flowers are pale yellow, sometimes with a purple tinge or purple markings.Miquel, Friedrich Anton Wilhelm 1867. Annales Musei Botanici Lugduno-Batavi 3: 157
in Latin ;formerly included *''Fritillaria thunbergii'' var. ''puqiensis'' (G.D.Yu & G.Y.Chen) P.K.Hsiao & S.C.Yu, now called '' Fritillaria monantha'' Migo

References

External links

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Fritillaria thunbergii (Thunberg fritillary)Flora of China Illustrations vol. 24, figures 114, 1-4 , line drawingsPacific Bulb Society, Asian Fritillaria Four
color photos of several species including ''Fritillaria thunbergii''
TCM Wiki, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Bulbus Fritillariae Thunbergii
photos of bulbs, information about use of ''Fritillaria thunbergii'' in traditional Chinese medicine thunbergii Flora of Asia Plants described in 1784 {{Liliales-stub