Snakes Head Fritillaria

Fritillaria meleagris or Snake's Head Fritillary as it is more commonly known, is a native of Europe, found growing in damp grassland and near rivers.

Purple & white bells of the Snake's Head Fritillary

Apart from it's original English name of Snake's Head fritillary, It has many local name variations such as Simple Fritillary, Checkered Daffodil, Frog-cup, Chess Flower, Guinea-hen Flower and Leper Lily,

The flowers are nodding, dainty, six petaled bells, hang from slender stems about 15 to 30cm in height.  They range from white to various shades of purple and bear a unique, chequered patterning which is quite obvious on the purple flowers but more of a feint "water mark" on the white flowers.

Fritillaria meleagris flowers from March to May from a small bulb, about 2 cm in diameter, commonly found growing in grasslands in damp soils and river meadows.

It is the only species of Fritillary native to Britain, but is now quite rare in the wild due to modern farming and land cultivation techniques.

Places to find Fritillaria meleagris in the wild:
The Meadow of Magdalen College, Oxford,
The village of Ducklington, Oxfordshire (which holds a Fritillary Sunday festival)
North Meadow National Nature Reserve, Wiltshire
Meadows in Kungsängen, just outside Uppsala, Sweden (also giving the flower its Swedish name, kungsängslilja).

Bulbs are available commercially and are extremely hardy.  Best placed in light shade and under deciduous trees and shrubs in free-draining soil, or naturalised in grass. Bulbs of the Fritilaria meleagris are poisonous.

Where to obtain the bulbs;
Thompson & Morgan - Plant, bulb and seed specialists
Fentongollan - Cornish bulb, plant and vegetable supplier
De Jager - Flower bulb specialists since 1868
The Wild Flower Shop - Specialists in British native flowers
Crocus - Plant and garden supplier