Relatives
Allium obliquum L. - Twisted leaf garlic.
Taxonomic position.
Family Alliaceae J. Agardh genus Allium L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial bulbous plant. Geophyte. Single bulb, settled on a vertical root, is oblong-ovoid, 2-3 cm in diameter, with leathery reddish-fulvous coating. The stem, 70-100 (130) cm tall, is dressed up to the middle in smooth axils. Leaves, 6-10 in number, are flat, linear, gradually converging from the base to the tip, 15-40 cm long and 7-20 mm wide. The umbel is spherical, dense, polyanthous. Pedicels, 2-3 times longer than sepals, have bracts at their base. Sepals are greenish-yellow, 4-5 mm in length. Filaments are 1.5-2 times longer than the sepals. The stylus expressly protrudes from the perianth. Autochore. Blossoms in April, bears fruit in July. Chromosome number: 2n = 16.Distribution.
South of the European part of Russia, the Urals (south), Western Siberia (south), Kazakhstan (Near-Balkhash areas, Saur, Tarbagatai), Mongolia.Ecology.
Mesophyte. Photophilous. Occurs in meadows, on wooded mountain slopes and banks of mountain rivers.Utilization and economic value.
Food (vegetable) and a source of vitamins. Local population of Western Siberia make salted pickles of this plant. Promising for domestication.Reference citations:
Brezhnev, D.D., Korovina, O.N. 1981. Wild relatives of cultivated plants in the flora of the USSR. Leningrad: Kolos, pp.96-97 (in Russian).Vvedensky, A.I. 1935. Onion - Allium L. (Flora of the USSR, vol. IV.) Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, p.175. (in Russian).
Malyshev L.I., Peshkova G.A. (ed). 1987. Flora of Siberia. Araceae - Orchidaceae. V. 4. Novosibirsk: Nauka, p.80 (in Russian).
Friesen, N.V. 1988. Onions plants of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka, p.132 (in Russian).