Chocolate Lily
Halq’emeylem Name
stl’éleqw’
Pronunciation
Latin Name
Fritillaria affinis Schult.
About Chocolate Lily
The bulb is made up “of a few larger, fleshy scales and numerous small, rice-grain bulblets”. The stems are 20-80 cm tall. Leaves are “usually in 1 or 2 whorls of 3 to 5 on the stem, scattered and alternate above, narrowly lanceolate to lance-egg-shaped, 5-10 (15) cm long, 0.5-3 cm wide, smooth.” The 20-80 cm tall stems lift up a single flower or a cluster of two to five flowers, coloured brownish-purple with yellow-ish green. Fruits are 6-angled capsules containing numerous seeds. (Klinkenberg, E-Flora)
“Notes:
This species has long been known as F. lanceolata, an illegitimate name.” (Klinkenberg, E-Flora)
Connections
Shakespeare
A kind of lily, specifically a fritillaria. A Shakepearean connection can be made to Fritillaria meleagris, also known as snake’s head fritillary or checkered lily, which looks somewhat similar but is not edible.
Indigenous Knowledge
Chocolate lily “can be steamed in pits or dried and stored” (www.stolofoodways.com) is similar to rice root (fritillaria camschatcensis), and its small bulblets, which look like rice, can be consumed similarly. It can be boiled, steamed in a cedar box, or pit-cooked (Turner, Food Plants, p. 48). “Most First Nations in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest cultivated northern rice root in estuarine gardens” (Brietzke and Starzomski, 2013). Rice root harvesting has continued and is being further restored in Squamish lands (Joseph, 2010).
Gallery
References
Sound: Halq’emeylem language pronunciation by Siyamiyateliyot (Elizabeth Phillips), Stó:lō Shxwelí, Halq’méylem Language Program, https://stoloshxweli.org | Latin binomial nomenclature pronunciation by Alan Reid
Images: Anita Ritenour | Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area | Brandon Levinger | Martin Bravenboer
Brietzke, Chanda, and Brian Starzomski (2013). “Northern rice root, black lily * Fritillaria camschatcensis * Heiltzuk/Haí(l)zaqv-xvúkvás * Nuxalk – ilk.” Biodiversity of the central coast. University of Victoria. https://www.centralcoastbiodiversity.org/northern-rice-root-bull-fritillaria-camschatcensis.html
Íhtelstexw Te Shxwelí (Feeding the Soul): Stó:lō Foodways. Stó:lō Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Curated by Teresa Carlson. University of the Fraser Valley, 2022. https://www.stolofoodways.com
Joseph, Leigh. “Finding Our Roots: ethnoecological restoration of phases (Fritillary camschatcensis (L.) Ker-Gail), an iconic plant in the Squamish River Estuary, British Columbia.” (MA Thesis) https://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8443//handle/1828/4190
Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Retrieved from
http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Fritillaria%20affinis%20var.%20affinis
Turner, N. (1995). Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples. Royal British Columbia Museum.