[2] They are mainly found in the wooded foothills of the Zagros,[3] where they grow in damp meadows [4] and cornfields between 900 and 1800 m above sea level.

[5] The Latin name uva-vulpis means "fox’s grape", and was coined in Kew after their Kurdish name tarsi raiwi, recorded by Guest.

The six petals are rounded and a compound of dark purple tinged with grey/pewter on the outside, with an intensely yellow border at the mouth, and gold on the inside.

[3] Locus typicus is the Iraqi town of Haji Omran (near Rowanduz), at an altitude of 2100 m. The type specimen was collected by Oleg Polunin in 1958.

[8] The plant is very similar to Fritillaria assyriaca which, however, has stolons on the stem, a flower with a more greenish tinge and a slightly flaring mouth and tends to grow at higher altitudes.