Fritillaries for free!

The snake-head fritillaries that I planted last Autumn have now set seed and so I am looking forwards to lots of new plants, for free, next Spring. I may well be disappointed.

The excitement of it all got me thinking about the origin of the name fritillary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary it has been in use as the name of a flower since at least the 16th century: 1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 123 It hath been called Frittillaria, of the table or boord vpon which men plaie at chesse, which square checkers the flower doth very much resemble, some thinking that it was named Frittillus.