Fritillaria oxypetala D.Don in J.F.Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mts. 1: 388 (1840); Lilium triceps Klotzsch; Nomocharis oxypetala (D.Don) E.H.Wilson

काकोली Kaakoli (Nepali), Yellow Himalyan lily (English).

Taxon Description

Perennial herbs, 30–50 cm tall. Bulbs subglobose or oblong, 2.5–4.5 × ca. 4 cm; scales 10–18, brown, narrowly lanceolate-acuminate, 0.5–1 cm wide. Stems simple, slender, erect, leafy, glabrous. Leaves alternate or scattered, more frequent towards the upper part of stem, sessile, elliptic-lanceolate, 3.5–7 × 0.7–1.5 cm, apex acute to acuminate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous, veins parallel, 3–5. Inflorescences single terminal flower, or flowers sometimes 2; bracts 2–many, leaf-like, crowded. Flowers broadly funnel or cup shaped, drooping or held horizontally; pedicel short, 0.5–1.2 cm. Tepals yellow to pale yellow with greenish-brown streaks at the base, oblanceolate or elliptic-oblong, unequal, outer 4.2–5.5 × 1.2–2.2 cm, inner 4.2–5.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm, spreading outwards from the base not reflexed, narrowed to subacute or obtuse apex; basal nectaries present adaxially, fringed with fine small hairs. Filaments 1.5–2 cm, glabrous; anthers yellow or orange, 0.4–1 cm, sub-basifixed. Ovary cylindric, 0.8–1.5 × 0.3–0.4 cm; style 1.5–2.2 cm; stigma greenish-white, 3-lobed. Capsule loculicidal, oblong, 1.7–2.8 × 1–1.7 cm. Seeds flattened, winged.

Distribution: Nepal, and W Himalaya.

Altitudinal range: 3100–4100(–5100) m.

Ecology: Coniferous forests, grassy slopes, crevices of bare rocks.

Flowering: June–July. Fruiting: July–August.

Bulbs are used for medicinal purposes.