crown imperial

noun

an Iranian plant, Fritillaria imperialis, of the lily family, having a purple-spotted stem and a whorl of usually reddish-orange flowers hanging beneath a tuft of leaves, grown as an ornamental.

crown imperial

a liliaceous garden plant, Fritillaria imperialis, with a cluster of leaves and orange bell-shaped flowers at the top of the stem

First recorded in 1535–45

Father Souciet laboured to prove it ought to be the crown imperial, a plant common in Persia.

I'd a letter the other day, my dear, to describe a white Crown Imperial—a thing that has never been!

Then shall the Crown Imperial tell its tale to you, and see what lesson we can learn from it?

I wrote to you, wired to you at a place called Crown Imperial.

In my mention of early-blooming perennials I had forgotten the Crown Imperial.

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