A very rare flower: the snake's head

The Snake's Head

This flower is called snake's head (Fritillaria meleagris), "kievitsbloem" in Dutch, "рябчик шахматный" in Russian.

It is a very rare (and protected) species in the wild in The Netherlands, and extinct in Belgium and many other European countries. It can take a bit of time to find them in the wild, but I did:

^{Olympus XZ-1, 70mm, ISO100, f5.6, 1/125s}

This plant is found in areas of clay-on-peat that flood in winter. Adjustments to the water level by agriculture make it disappear. The seeds float on water, so it depends on flooding to spread, and it takes a plant eight years before it blooms.

I even found some clusters of these flowers this year:

^{Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/100s}

This one is even rarer, a white version:

^{Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/100s}

This is a very strange one, it is the first time I have seen one like this. It looks like something inbetween, as if undecided on its colour. It could be a hybrid, or a mutation. I haven't been able to find out yet if it is rare or unusual:

^{Olympus Stylus 1s, 42mm, ISO200, f5.6, 1/125s}

I would be interested to know if any of you have seen these in the wild in other countries.

Thanks for watching!