CROWN IMPERIAL Seeds | Fritillaria imperialis

Seeds are best sown during Autumn and require cold stratification in order to germinate. We have completed this step for you.

STEP 1 - Scatter the seeds over a quality Seed Raising Mix and then lightly sprinkle sand over the top of the seeds. Crown Imperial seeds require light to germinate so make sure the seeds aren’t buried too deep under the sand.

STEP 2 - Use a spray bottle to add a small amount of moisture daily. Germination should occur in early Spring.

STEP 3 - Check regularly for germination and move to a bright place once this occurs to prevent Etiolation of the seedlings. Etiolation is the process in which plants grow long, pale and unhealthy due to the lack of light. Etiolated plants are susceptible to disease and may die quickly due to a lack of energy.

STEP 4 - Once germinated keep the pots in a sunny position and keep watered throughout the growing season until the seedlings start to die down for their Summer dormancy.

STEP 5 - By the end of the first year, the baby bulbs will be small and difficult to handle, so are better left to the end of their second year before any re-potting.

Fritillaria imperialis has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Other cultivars in shades of red, yellow and orange, are also available. Like other members of the lily family, the plant is susceptible to depredation by the Scarlet Lily Beetle.

Fritillaria imperialis is easy to grow in well-drained soil in a sunny site. The plant is drought tolerant, and seeds should be planted in the early autumn.

Fritillaria imperialis extract has antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on HCT116 and HepG2 cancer cells and therefore, may serve as an anticancer agent.

The bulb is diuretic, emollient and resolvent. It has been used as an expectorant and also to encourage increased breast milk production. The fresh plant contains the toxic alkaloid Imperialine which is a cardiotoxin.

Fritillaria imperialis have been utilised in Chinese Traditional Medicine and furthermore as an antihypertensive and antiasthmatic. Fritillaria imperialis are utilised worldwide as as a medicine and as a food. Roasted bulbs are utilised as food by Native Americans. Prior it was exported from Nepal to India and China due to its high therapeutic values.

Fritillaria imperialis have been utilised due to their effects of moistening the lung, clearing heat, resolving phlegm, soothing cough, remedy for cough brought about by lung heat and dryness, a cough because of a Yin weakness, sputum with blood and a low sputum dry cough.

The bulb part of Fritillaria species utilised as decoction or in dried form to cure bronchitis, cough, tumours, struma, asthma, haemoptysis and insufficiency of milk.

Fritillaria have been utilised to cure numerous lung infections, including tuberculosis, and asthma. Moreover, it is used as a lymphatic decongestant to decrease glandular or nodular breast tissue, goitre, swellings and lymphadenopathy. It has been utilised for the treatment of prolonged hypotension, sensory system, defective breathing and incitement of the heart muscle as well as treating swelling underneath the skin, for example, scrofulous swellings and breast nodules. It is likewise detailed that blood platelet conglomeration is restrained by the bulbs.

It has been utilised to cure diseases like asthma and cough in Traditional Chinese Medicine for over 2000 years and furthermore act expectorant, astringent and demulcent. 

Fritillaria imperialis has been utilised for the treatment of different diseases like asthma, pharyngitis, bronchitis, cough, struma, haemoptysis, dysuria and gland tumour. Its tendrilled bulbs are utilised as a home remedy for haemorrhage, cough and mucus, treatment of abscess, high fever, absence of milk, eye sickness, and rheumatoid arthritis and act as antianxiety and antidepressant medicine.

The flower has a long and deep connection with the history, religion, mythology and folklore of its native Iran and, as a result, has acquired a wealth of evocative vernacular names, often referencing the pendent form of the blossoms and the tear-like nectar drops borne by the six nectaries. In Iranian folklore the nodding flowers are described (in comparison with the upright flowers of tulips) as being 'upside-down', this curious posture being attributed to the plant's bowing its (originally upright) 'head' in sorrow upon the death of a mythological or religious personage. Likewise, the glistening drops of nectar at the base of each flower are described as the tears which the plant weeps in mourning the departed. Depictions of the distinctive inflorescences may be seen on the sculpted capitals of Sassanid columns, as at Taq-e Bostan. Crown Imperial is linked to the legend of the tragic death of Siyâvash, a semi-divine hero in Ferdowsi's prodigious national epic Shahnameh - whence the common name Ashk-e Sivash or 'Tear of Siyâvash',

Chemical components isolated from Fritillaria imperialis include 120 alkaloids, 15 terpenoids as well as saponins, glycosides, volatile components, nucleosides, amino acids, nucleobases, flavonoids and fatty acids.

The significant phytochemicals in Fritillaria imperialis are reported as the alkaloids Ebeiedine, Ebeienine, Ebeiedinone, Verticinone, Imperialine, Verticine, Hupehenine and Isoverticine.

The fresh plant contains the toxic alkaloid Imperialine. In humans it may cause spasms, vomiting, hypertension and cardiac arrest.