Allium canadense

Last updated

Canada onion
Allium canadense var canadense.jpg
Allium canadense drawing.png
1913 drawing. [1]
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Subgenus: A. subg. Amerallium
Species:
A. canadense
Binomial name
Allium canadense
Synonyms [4] [5]
  • Allium acetabulum(Raf.) Shinners
  • Allium canadense var. ovoideumFarw.
  • Allium canadense var. robustumFarw.
  • Allium continuumSmall
  • Geboscon acetabulumRaf.
  • Kalabotis canadensis(L.) Raf.

Allium canadense, the Canada onion, Canadian garlic, wild garlic, meadow garlic and wild onion [6] is a perennial plant native to eastern North America [a] from Texas to Florida to New Brunswick to Montana. The species is also cultivated in other regions as an ornamental and as a garden culinary herb. [7] The plant is also reportedly naturalized in Cuba. [8]

Contents

Description

Allium canadense has an edible bulb covered with a dense skin of brown fibers. The plant also has strong onion odor and taste. [9]

[10] Crow garlic ( Allium vineale ) is similar, but it has a strong garlic taste. [11] [ failed verification ]

The narrow, grass-like leaves originate near the base of the stem, which is topped by a dome-like cluster of star-shaped, pink or white flowers. These flowers may be partially or entirely replaced by bulblets. [11] When present, the flowers are hermaphroditic (both male and female organs) and are pollinated by American bees (not honeybees) and other insects. It typically flowers in the spring and early summer, from May to June. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Allium canadense var. hyacinthoides in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. Allium canadense var. hyacinthoides.png
Allium canadense var. hyacinthoides in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma.

Varieties

The bulblet-producing form is classified as A. canadense var. canadense. [11] It was once thought that the tree onion could be related to this plant, [17] but it is now known that the cultivated tree onion is a hybrid between the common onion (A. cepa) and Welsh onion (A. fistulosum), classified as A. × proliferum. [18]

Five varieties of the species are widely recognized: [5] [11]

Uses

The Canada onion is cultivated as a vegetable in home gardens in Cuba, [b] scattered locally in the south to western parts of the island. It was formerly collected from the wild to be eaten by Native Americans and by European settlers. [19] People in the Cherokee Nation and Chickasaw Nation continue the tradition of picking and cooking wild onions in early spring. [20] Various Native American tribes also used the plant for other purposes: for example, rubbing the plant on the body for protection from insect, lizard, scorpion, and tarantula bites. [21]

The whole plant can be eaten raw, with the tougher outer layers removed. It can also be cooked and included in any recipe calling for onions. [9] However, there have been reported cases of poisoning when deathcamas bulbs were mistaken for wild onions. [22] Additionally, long term consumption of wild onion bulbs reduces iodine uptake by the thyroid gland. This can worsen iodine deficiency for people with a diet that is low in iodine. [23] Horses are vulnerable to developing hemolytic anemia from eating wild onion leaves. [24]

Notes

  1. ↑ In Canadian French, the plant is known as ail du Canada ("Canadian garlic") and oignons des prairies ("onion of the prairies/meadows").
  2. ↑ In Cuban Spanish, known mainly as cebolla silvestre ("wild onion"), with other rare colloquial names.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onion</span> Bulbous vegetable grown for food

An onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified as a separate species until 2011. The onion's close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, and chives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulb</span> Short plant stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases for food storage and water

In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases that function as food storage organs during dormancy. In gardening, plants with other kinds of storage organ are also called ornamental bulbous plants or just bulbs.

<i>Allium oleraceum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium oleraceum, the field garlic, is a Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a bulbous perennial that grows wild in dry places, reaching 30 centimetres (12 in) in height. It reproduces by seed, bulbs and by the production of small bulblets in the flower head. Unlike A. vineale, it is very rare with A. oleraceum to find flower-heads containing bulbils only. In addition, the spathe in A. oleraceum is in two parts.

<i>Allium tricoccum</i> Species of wild onion

Allium tricoccum is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is a North American species of wild onion or garlic found in eastern North America. Many of the common English names for this plant are also used for other Allium species, particularly the similar Allium ursinum, which is native to Eurasia. An edible plant, Allium tricoccum is used in a variety of North American and indigenous cuisines, and has also been used by Native Americans in traditional medicine. A French rendering (chicagou) of a Native American name for this plant is the namesake of the American city of Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree onion</span> Species of flowering plant

The tree onion is a perennial plant similar to the common onion (A. cepa), but with a cluster of bulblets where a normal onion would have flowers. Tree onions are also known as topsetting onions, walking onions, or Egyptian onions. Genomic evidence has conclusively shown that they are a diploid hybrid of the shallot and the Welsh onion (A. fistulosum). However, some sources may still treat the tree onion as A. cepa var. proliferum or A. cepa Proliferum Group.

<i>Allium vineale</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium vineale is a perennial, bulb-forming species of wild onion, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and the Middle East. The species was introduced in Australia and North America, where it has become an Invasive species.

<i>Allium ampeloprasum</i> Species of plant

Allium ampeloprasum is a member of the onion genus Allium. The wild plant is commonly known as wild leek or broadleaf wild leek. Its native range is southern Europe to southwestern Asia and North Africa, but it is cultivated in many other places and has become naturalized in many countries.

<i>Allium scorodoprasum</i> Species of flowering plant

The sand leek, also known as rocambole and Korean pickled-peel garlic, is a Eurasian species of wild onion with a native range extending across much of Europe, Middle East, and Korea.

<i>Allium sphaerocephalon</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium sphaerocephalon is a plant species in the Amaryllis family known as round-headed leek, round-headed garlic, ball-head onion, and other variations on these names. Drumstick allium is another common name applied to this species. Some publications use the alternate spelling Allium sphaerocephalum. It is a bulbous herbaceous perennial plant.

<i>Viola canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Viola canadensis is a flowering plant in the Violaceae family. It is commonly known as Canadian white violet, Canada violet, tall white violet, or white violet. It is widespread across much of Canada and the United States, from Alaska to Newfoundland, south as far as Georgia and Arizona. It is a perennial herb and the Latin-specific epithet canadensis means of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulbil</span> Small young plant that grows from the parent plants stem

A bulbil is a small, young plant that is reproduced vegetatively from axillary buds on the parent plant's stem or in place of a flower on an inflorescence. These young plants are clones of the parent plant that produced them—they have identical genetic material. The formation of bulbils is a form of asexual reproduction, as they can eventually go on to form new stand-alone plants.

<i>Allium nigrum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium nigrum, common name black garlic, broad-leaved leek, or broadleaf garlic, is a Middle Eastern species of wild onion. It lacks the onion or garlic scent shared by most of the other species in the group. The species is native to Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel but cultivated as an ornamental in many other places. It has become naturalized in some regions, including parts of the United States.

<i>Allium cernuum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium cernuum, known as nodding onion or lady's leek, is a perennial plant in the genus Allium. It grows in open areas in North America.

<i>Allium moly</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium moly, also known as yellow garlic, golden garlic and lily leek, Is a species of flowering plant in the genus Allium, which also includes the flowering and culinary onions and garlic. A bulbous herbaceous perennial from the Mediterranean. It is edible and used as a medicinal and ornamental plant. Allium moly is a bulb type flower, with the size of the bulb affecting the flowering period and the time of the flowering.

<i>Allium unifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium unifolium, the one-leaf onion or American garlic, is a North American species of wild onion. It is native to the coastal mountain ranges of California, Oregon, and Baja California. It grows on clay soils including serpentine, at elevations up to 1100 m.

<i>Allium acuminatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium acuminatum, also known as the tapertip onion or Hooker's onion, is a species in the genus Allium native to North America.

<i>Allium stellatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium stellatum, commonly known as the autumn onion, prairie onion, cliff onion, or glade onion, is a North American species of wild onion in the Amaryllidaceae family that is native to central Canada and the central United States.

Allium perdulce, the Plains onion, is a plant species native to the central part of the United States and cultivated as an ornamental elsewhere. It has been found in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and one county in western Iowa.

<i>Allium tolmiei</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium tolmiei is a plant species native to Idaho, eastern and central Oregon, southeastern Washington, northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. It occurs on mountains and scrublands at elevations of 1,300–9,200 feet (400–2,800 m). It was discovered by and named for Dr. William Fraser Tolmie.

<i>Allium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Allium is a large genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants with around 1000 accepted species, making Allium the largest genus in the family Amaryllidaceae and amongst the largest plant genera in the world. Many of the species are edible, and some have a long history of cultivation and human consumption as a vegetable including the onion, garlic, scallions, shallots, leeks, and chives, with onions being the second most grown vegetable globally after tomatoes as of 2023.

References

  1. ↑ illustration from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. Vol. 1: 499.
  2. ↑ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1753). Species plantarum. Vol. 2. Impensis Laurentii Salvii. p. 1195 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ↑ "Allium canadense L.". Tropicos . Missouri Botanical Garden.
  5. 1 2 "Allium canadense L.". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List. Note that this website has been superseded by World Flora Online
  6. ↑ "Allium canadense". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Izel, Native Plants For Your Garden, Washington DC, Allium canadense". Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". kew.org.
  9. 1 2 Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants : A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods (Paperback ed.). New York: Sterling. pp. 58, 61. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414 . Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  10. ↑ Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. pp. 58, 61. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 McNeal Jr., Dale W.; Jacobsen, T.D. (2002). "Allium canadense". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 21, 2011– via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  12. ↑ Correll, D. S.; Johnston, M. C. (1970). Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Richardson: University of Texas at Dallas.
  13. ↑ Great Plains Flora Association, ed. (1986). Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
  14. ↑ Schwegman, J. E (1991). "The Vascular Flora of Langham Island, Kankakee County, Illinois". Erigenia. 11: 1–8.
  15. ↑ Voss, E. G. (1972). "Gymnosperms and Monocots". Michigan Flora. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Institute of Science.
  16. ↑ Wunderlin, R. P. (1998). Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
  17. ↑ Food Resource, Oregon State University. "ALLIUM CANADENSE, TREE ONION, WILD ONION". originally from Hedrick, U.P. ed., Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants (1919). Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Allium x proliferum". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  19. ↑ Hanelt, Peter (2001). "Alliaceae". In P. Hanelt (ed.). Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (except ornamentals). Berlin: Spring-Verlag. p. 2250. ISBN   3-540-41017-1.
  20. ↑ "Wild Onions and Scrambled Eggs". www.cherokee.org. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  21. ↑ Moerman, David E. (1998). Native American Ethnobotany. Portland, OR: Timber Press. p. 57. ISBN   0-88192-453-9.
  22. ↑ Padrez, Kevin A.; Stix, Benjamin L.; Cunningham, Cody A.; Abdalla, Abdelmohaymin; Oishi, Marisa; Cardy, Vanessa; Nordt, Sean Patrick (January 2025). "Acute death Camas (Toxicoscordion venenosum) plant poisoning in seven family members following foraging for wild onions". The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 87: 217.e1–217.e5. doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2024.10.027.
  23. ↑ Lampe, Kenneth F.; McCann, Mary Ann (1985). AMA Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants. Chicago, Illinois: American Medical Association. p. 28. ISBN   978-0-89970-183-7 . Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  24. ↑ Munro, Derek B. (2013). "Allium canadense – Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System". Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2011.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.