Yellow fritillaries at the grassland slopes of Mount Peavine near Reno, Nevada

These yellow fritillaries (Fritillaria pudica) were found in early April just after the snow-melt at the northeast-facing slopes of Mount Peavine north of Reno. This plant of the lily family (Liliaceae) is often named after its hanging, bell-shaped flower: yellow bell (also written as one word: yellowbell) or gold bell. The plants spotted in the Peavine area were small, with a height less than 4" (10 cm).  But the yellow-golden flowers announce their presence to anybody hiking the still-wet, soon-to-be-dry slopes.

References and more fritillaries
[1] Richard Spellenberg: North American Wildflowers - Western Region. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 2001; page 588.
[2] USDA Plants Profile: Fritillaria pudica (Pursh) Spreng. [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=FRPU2].
[3]  CalFlora: Taxon Report 3641 [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=3641].
[4] Thayne Tuason: Fritillaria pudica, yellow bell, yellow fritillary [http://www.cwnp.org/photopgs/fdoc/frpudica.html].