Allium platycaule

Allium platycaule is a species of wild onion known as broadstemmed onion or flat-stem onion. It is native to northeastern California, south-central Oregon (Lake County) and northwestern Nevada (Washoe and Humboldt Counties). It is found on slopes of elevations of 1500–2500 m.[1]

Flat-stem onion
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. platycaule
Binomial name
Allium platycaule

Allium platycaule grows from a gray bulb 2 to 3 cm (3⁄4 to 1 1⁄4 in) wide. Scape is thin and strongly flattened, up to 25 cm (9 3⁄4 in) long but rarely more than 7 mm (1⁄4 in) across. It may be thicker along the midrib and much narrower along the sides. The long, flat leaves are sickle-shaped. Atop the stem is an umbel which may have as many as 90 flowers in it. Each flower may be up to a centimeter and a half wide but the tepals are quite narrow so as to be almost threadlike. The inflorescence therefore may appear be a dense ball of filaments. The flowers are generally bright pink to magenta with yellow anthers.[2][3][4][5]

Uses

The leaves, bulbs, and seeds were utilized as food by the Northern Paiute people.[6]

References
  1. USDA Plants Profile
  2. Jepson Manual Treatment
  3. Photo gallery
  4. Watson, Sereno. 1879. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 14: 234.
  5. Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  6. Ethnobotany
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