Allium perdulce

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Plains onion
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. perdulce
Binomial name
Allium perdulce

Allium perdulce, the Plains onion, is a plant species native to the central part of the United States and cultivated as an ornamental elsewhere. [1] It has been found in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and one county in western Iowa (Woodbury County). [2] [3]

The species name, "perdulce", is neo Latin meaning "especially sweet". This is a reference to the scent of the flowers which resembles hyacinths. [4]

Allium perdulceproduces 2-20 bulbs, each up to 3 cm (1.2 inches) in diameter. Flowers are urn-shaped, up to 10 mm (0.4 inches) across; tepals deep rose to purple (except in var. sperryi; see below); pollen yellow. [2] [5] [6] [7]

Two varieties are recognized: [2] [8]

Var. sperryi is a color variant known only from western Texas in the trans-Pecos region. It has white to pale pink flowers instead of the more widespread deep rose to purple. [2]

Cultivation

The plains onion prefers sandy loam soil. Though tolerant of drought conditions they will make good use of some additional moisture when in cultivation. [4]

Related Research Articles

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

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

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

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

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

Allium peninsulare is a North American species of wild onion. It is known by such common names as Mexicali onion and Peninsula onion; the former referring to the Mexican city just south of the US/Mexican border, the latter referring to the Peninsula of Baja California. It is widespread in California, USA, where it grows in the California Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, some of the Channel Islands, and Peninsular Ranges. The range extends south into the northernmost part of Baja California and north into southern Oregon.

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

Allium falcifolium is a North American species of wild onion known by the common name scytheleaf onion or coast flatstem onion. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in heavy, rocky soils, especially serpentine soils.

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

Allium fimbriatum is a species of wild onion known by the common name fringed onion. It is native to California and Baja California.

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

Allium obtusum is a species of wild onion known by the common name red Sierra onion or subalpine onion. It is native to eastern California and western Nevada. It is a common plant in the granite foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range, from Tulare County to Siskiyou County, from elevations of 800 to 3,500 metres. In Nevada, it is reported only from Washoe County in the northwestern part of the state.

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

Allium howellii is a North American species of wild onion known by the common name Howell's onion. It is endemic to California.

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

Allium sanbornii is a North American species of wild onion known by the common name Sanborn's onion. It is native to northern California and southwestern Oregon. It grows in the serpentine soils of the southern Cascade Range and northern Sierra Nevada foothills.

<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 elmendorfii is a species of wild onion endemic to Texas. It is known only from Bexar, Frio, Wilson, and Atascosa Counties. It is generally found on sandy soils, specifically "well-drained sands, Eocene, Pleistocene and Holocene sands, and has only a 400 x 160 km range." Its habitat is "Forest/Woodland, Savanna, Woodland - Hardwood" and specifically "{g}rassland openings in post oak woodlands on deep, well-drained sands derived from Queen City and similar Eocene formations."

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

Allium aaseae, the Southern Idaho onion or Aase's onion, is a plant species endemic to southwestern Idaho. It has been reported from 6 counties: Elmore, Ada, Boise, Gem, Payette and Washington.

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

Allium columbianum, the Columbian onion, is a species of onion native to eastern Washington, northern Idaho, and the Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana. It is a perennial herb that grows on shallow, wet soils at elevations of 300–1100 m.

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

Allium geyeri or Geyer's onion is a North American species of onion widespread in the western United States and in western Canada. It is found in the Rocky Mountain States from New Mexico to Idaho, Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, South Dakota, Arizona, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Allium runyonii is a North American species of wild onion native to southern Texas about as far north as Corpus Christi, as well as to the Mexican States of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. It is found on sandy soils including in plains along the Río Grande.

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

Allium scilloides, called the fragile onion, is a plant species endemic to the US State of Washington. It has been reported from only 4 counties, all on the eastern side of the Cascade Range: Klickitat, Kittitas, Yakima and Grant. It grows on barren, gravelly slopes at elevations of 300–1300 m. The species is sometimes cultivated in other regions as an ornamental.

<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.

References

  1. "Gardening Europa, Allium perdulce". Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Flora of North America, Allium perdulce
  3. BONAP (Biota of North America Program), 2014 county distribution map, Allium perdulce
  4. 1 2 Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 20. ISBN   0-8166-1127-0.
  5. Fraser, Samuel Victorian. 1940. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 42: 124–126.
  6. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains i–vii, 1–1392. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence.
  7. Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas i–xv, 1–1881. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson.
  8. The Plant List
  9. Ownbey, Francis Marion. 1950. Research Studies of the State College of Washington 18(4): 202–203, f. 4.
  10. Traub, Hamilton Paul, & Ownbey, Francis Marion. 1967. Plant Life 23: 110.
  11. photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, isotype of Allium perdulce var. sperryi