| | Fritillaria camschatcensis (L.) Ker-Gawl. |
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| Family | Liliaceae — APG family: Liliaceae |
| Synonyms | Lilium camschatcense L. |
| Common name | kamchatka fritillary, saran |
| Description | Bulbs of several fleshy scales and their bladelike petioles, which disintegrate into numerous ricelike bulblets; leaves in 2-3 whorls; flowers purplish-black, 1 to several close together, on short pedicels; capsule obtusely angled. The perianth segments are often striped with green on the outside in American specimens, less so in Asiatic. In meager soil the plant is often sterile, with only 1, ovate, basal leaf. |
| Ecology | Meadows. Described from “Canada, Kamtschatka.” The smaller subsp. alpina Mats. & Toyok. occurs in the alpine zone of Japan. |
| Uses | The bulbs, which contain starch and sugar, were a staple food of the prehistoric natives; the taste is bitter. The bulblets are dug in the fall, dried, and used in stews or powdered into flour. |
