Plant profile - snakeshead fritillary
We’ve planted hundreds of snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) over the years. A member of the Lily family, they’re distinguished by their uniquely patterned cup-shaped flowers and wiry stems. A bulbous perennial, native to flood plains in Europe they’ve acquired a variety of wonderful common names throughout history including chess flower, guinea-hen flower, and leper lily - the latter referring to its bell-like shape, apparently reminiscent of lepers' warning bells.
The plant's most striking feature is its distinctive checkered pattern in various shades of purple. Lovely pure white variants also exist. Flowering is between March and May, with the plant reaching a height of up to 40cm. Its slightly flattened bulb is around the size of a marrow-fat pea and contains toxins that make it unattractive to mammals or insects. Favouring damp grasslands and river meadows, it thrives at elevations of up to 800 metres. They are more adaptable than many believe however. We’ve seen them self-sown at the base of a south facing dry-stone wall and they do well in pots too. The pots can be brought in for a dinner party table decoration and put back outside later that evening.
As a native British species the plant has often been the subject of botanical debate. Its first documented wild occurrence was in 1736, well after John Gerard's 16th-century description as a garden plant, and has led some to suggest it is in fact a garden escapee. Others say that its habitat requirements and limited spread suggest it might be an indigenous species isolated from the mainland European populations 8,000 years ago when separation occurred due to glacial action.
It was once relatively common, particularly in the Thames Valley and Wiltshire regions but sadly saw a huge decline during World War II when ancient meadows were ploughed up for food production. Today, several notable sites contain their original wild populations, including Magdalen College meadows, Oxford's Iffley Meadows, and various nature reserves across Suffolk, Wiltshire, and Cambridgeshire. It was even selected as Oxfordshire's County flower in 2002. The most spectacular site to observe these wonderful flowers has to be North Meadow in Cricklade, Wiltshire, where swathes of the species, representing 85% of the UK population, can be seen on the sixty acre site.
In the garden both the species and its pure white variety have received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Excellent for meadow planting, it comes up before the grass gets too long, and is relatively pest free though scarlet lily beetles can sometimes be an issue.
