fritillaria

American  

[frit-l-air-ee-uh] / ˌfrɪt lˈɛər i ə /

noun

1. any liliaceous plant of the genus Fritillaria, comprising bulbous herbs having drooping, bell-shaped flowers.

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Etymology

Origin of fritillaria

1570–80; < New Latin, name of genus, equivalent to Latin fritill ( us ) dice box + -āria -ary

Example Sentences

In a meadow-style array with plum and apple trees, blue camassias mingle with pink-and-white Lady Jane tulips and bell-shaped, purple-and-white-checkered snake’s head fritillaria.

From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2021

Common in English gardens, word of fritillaria is just making its way over the pond to a new generation of American gardeners.

From Time • Sep. 24, 2017

The estate’s sandy dunes, wooded glens, and walking paths — bursting this time of year with daffodils, crocuses, tulips and Eurasian fritillaria — keep almost casual company with works of modern and contemporary art.

From New York Times • May 7, 2016

There followeth, for the latter part of January and February, the mezereon-tree, which then blossoms; crocus vernus, both the yellow and the gray; primroses; anemones; the early tulippa; hyacinthus orientalis; chamaïris; fritillaria.

From A Century of English Essays An Anthology Ranging from Caxton to R. L. Stevenson & the Writers of Our Own Time by Rhys, Ernest

Beneath the cool, deep shade of these majestic trees the ground is occupied by ferns, chiefly woodwardia and aspidiums, with only a few flowering plants—oxalis, trientalis, erythronium, fritillaria, smilax, and other shade-lovers.

From The Mountains of California by Muir, John