Fritillaria meleagris L. family Liliaceae.
Watercolour on vellum
A short to medium bulbous perennial, found in damp meadows and open woodland, from April to May. Linear lancolate alternate leaves and a single drooping campanulate flower, six oblong petals, three outer and three inner, petals posses nectariferous cavity near to their base. Plant is hermaphrodite with an inferior ovary. Pollination is via bumblebees.
At the beginning of the 20th century F. meleagris was a common sight in meadows but has since become nationally scarce as a result of agricultural intensification, particularly from land drainage, ploughing and use of fertilisers. Magdalen meadow, in Oxford, is one of the few remaining strongholds for this plant. The population has been maintained there because grazing is not allowed until springtime and haycrops are harvested mid-summer, this practice allows the plants to grow undisturbed and set seed in the spring. F. meleagris is categorised as vulnerable in the British Red data Book and is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Schedule 8).
