Spotted Mountain Bells
Fritillaria atropurpurea
Lily family (Liliaceae)
Its slim profile and nodding flower can make the Leopard Lily a challenge to find. Native Americans commonly ate the and some called the "rice-root." The Latin Fritillaria means "dice box," perhaps referring to the spotted nature of the flower or more likely referring to the somewhat cube-shaped seed and its rattling seeds. Atropurpurea means "dark purple."
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.
Imperfect flowers are unisexual with only stamens or pistils, but not both.
A herb is a plant whose stems die back to the ground in the winter.
obovoid -- Egg-shaped, stem attaches to narrow end. Applied to 3-dimentional forms.
capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.
fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.
A bulb is an underground stem, the main body of which consists of thickened scales, which are in reality leaves or leaf bases, as in the onion.
tepal -- like a flower petal. Tepal is used, instead of petal, when it is not easy to tell the sepals from the petals.
genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.
alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.
linear -- Long and very narrow like a blade of grass.