kakoi :
Morphology:
Fritillaria roylei is a herbacious plant, 0.5-2 ft tall, commonly found in alpine slopes and shrubberies of the Himalayas, from Pakistan to Uttarakhand, at altitudes of 2700-4000 m. Flowers are yellowish-green to brownish-purple and usually with a chequered pattern in dull purple. Flowers are broadly bell-shaped, hanging looking down, borne singly on the stems, but sometimes in groups of 2-4. Petals are narrow-ovate. 4-5 cm long. Leaves are linear-lancelike, often long-pointed, 5-10 cm, arrange oppositely or in whorls of 2-6 on the stem.
Histology:
T.S. of bulb shows concentric layers of scale leaves; axis of bulb show three concentric layers of scale leaves, with an outer and inner epidermis consisting of single layered parenchymatous cells with mucilage; cuticle of both epidermis is slightly wavy and horny, mesophyll consists of 6 to 9 layered hexagonal parenchyma cells; starch grains gelatinised; raphides ranging from 100 to 230 n in length are also present in the mesophyll; surface view of upper epidermis show compactly arranged rectangular, elongated thin walled cells.
