SCARLET FRITILLARY.
Fritillaria recurva, Benth. Lily Family.
Bulb as in F. lanceolata. Stems.—Eight to eighteen inches high; one- to nine-flowered. Flowers.—Scarlet outside; yellow, spotted with scarlet, within. Perianth.—Campanulate; urn-shaped. Segments.—Twelve to eighteen lines long; with recurved tips. Stamens and style not quite equaling the segments. Capsule.—Rather obtusely angled. (Otherwise as F. lanceolata.) Hab.—The Sierras, from Placer County northward into Oregon.
The scarlet fritillary is without doubt the most beautiful of all our species. It is a wonderful blossom, which seems as much of a marvel to us every time we behold it as it did at first. Usually there are from one to nine of the brilliant bells; but the effect can be imagined when as many as thirty-five have been seen upon a single stem!
F. coccinea, Greene, is another beautiful scarlet-and-yellow species, found in the mountains of Sonoma and Napa Counties. This has from one to four flowers, which are an inch long, with simple campanulate outline, without recurving tips.
![[NORTHERN SCARLET LARKSPUR—Delphinium nudicaule.]](#3624944100741987669_f135.png.id-8839704210149631983.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}