[pbs] Fritillaria imperialis again

Jim McKenney jimmckenney at jimmckenney.com
Thu Aug 28 19:58:34 EDT 2008


While we’re on the topic of Fritillaria imperialis, I’ll mention something
which many of you might not be aware of. To make it a bit more interesting,
I’ll use a bit (OK, a lot) of hyperbole: Fritillaria imperialis as we know
it might soon be extinct in cultivation. Another possibility: the plant you
grow as Fritillaria imperialis might not be. 

 

What’s all this about? A week or two ago I was looking at the web site of
one of the big Dutch firms which specializes in crown imperials (crowns
imperial?). Evidently they have already been successful in hybridizing
Fritillaria imperialis with other closely related species such as F.
raddeana, F. chitralensis and F. eduardii. One goal is to hybridize with
other species which do not have the strong characteristic odor of F.
imperialis. 

 

As I recall the web site showed mass plantings of these hybrids: my guess is
that they are already making the rounds, especially if they do not meet the
hybridist’s goals. 

 

Jim McKenney

jimmckenney at jimmckenney.com

Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
7

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