Chocolate Lily

Fritillaria affinis

Chocolate lilies have long green lanceolate leaves and chocolate brown petals. The stem is approximately 20 cm from the ground and rises from a bulb made up of small grains. Chocolate lilies do not smell like chocolate; they smell like carrion (dead animal). The name makes for excellent practical jokes! By smelling like carrion, they attract flies. When the flies come into investigate, they pick up pollen spores. When they move to the next flower, they will bring those pollen grains and help to pollinate it. The bulbs of this flower are edible and were called rice lilies by Inuit tribes.

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Written by Rob Nelson

Rob is an ecologist from the University of Hawaii. He is the co-creator and director of Untamed Science. His goal is to create videos and content that are entertaining, accurate, and educational. When he's not making science content, he races whitewater kayaks and works on Stone Age Man.

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