Today's photograph is once again courtesy of Eric in SF@Flickr (original image | Botany Photo of the Day Flickr Pool). Eric is also the person behind orchidphotos.org. Thank you, as always!

Fritillaria pluriflora, or the adobe lily, is endemic to a few counties in northern California. It is certainly a species of conservation concern, with a California Native Plant Society ranking of 1B.2. This means it is "Rare, Threatened, or Endangered in California and Elsewhere" (the 1B part) and "Fairly threatened in California (moderate degree/immediacy of threat)" (the .2 part). The Pacific Bulb Society wiki page on North American Fritillaria species explains that threats include "habitat degradation, cattle grazing, and horticultural collecting".

Fortunately, this plant and others in its local population are being stewarded at Bear Valley Ranch through the California Rangeland Trust, an organization who: "[recognizes] ...that the environmental health of the state's rangelands and economic health of its rural communities are intertwined...[works to] prrovide and promote alternate ways to safeguard rangeland agriculture and the natural balance of its ecosystems. California Rangeland Trust is working to permanently protect hundreds of thousands of acres of California rangeland through agricultural conservation easements."

For additional photographs, see Fritillaria pluriflora via CalPhotos. A brief description of the species is available from the Bureau of Land Management: Fritillaria pluriflora. Lastly, you can see additional photographs by Eric of this species and others, as well as the landscape at Bear Valley Ranch, in his photographs tagged with Bear Valley Ranch.