Chocolate Lily

I mentioned yesterday that I enjoy looking around in the Garry Oak Learning Meadow at Fort Rodd Hill. One of the reasons is that there is a knowledgeable and personable Parks Canada staff member there who patiently answers questions and also points out interesting or unusual plants. He pointed out the flower pictured above, an extraordinary Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis) with seven flower heads. When I've come across these in the wild they generally only have a single flower though I have seen double-flowered plants occasionally.

Chocolate Lilies (Fritillaria affinis)

Here's another spring flower that seems to be extra abundant this year. I've noticed more of these in a wider variety of settings than in past years. This is the Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis). This one was photographed in Beacon Hill Park. It looks good enough to eat.

Chocolate Lily

Here's another favourite spring wildflower - the Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis), sometimes known as Rice-root because of the many small swellings on the roots that look like grains of rice. I also saw a few of these blooming on my recent trip to Bear Hill but no matter where I see them, I seldom see more than two or three together. For a couple of years I knew of only one plant of this species that grew near the summit of Mount Douglas so I am happy to have located others.

Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria affinis)

Whenever I go up Mount Douglas in the spring I always keep a sharp lookout for Chocolate Lilies (Fritillaria affinis). The reason is that I always expect to see some since there is one plant, pictured above, that comes up every year very close to the summit. Yet every year it is the only one I see. The cold weather this spring has delayed blooming for many wildflowers and this one is no exception so, since I know of but one and the weather has been cold, all we get to see this year is the buds of this lovely little brown flower. (If any of my fellow Victorians know where I can see more of these, please let me know. Lewis J. Clark [Wild Flowers of British Columbia] says there a very vigorous variety at the mouth of the Goldstream River but I don't know that I will be able to get there this year.)