Relatives

Allium spirale Willd. ex Schlecht. - Spiral onion.

Taxonomic position.

Family Alliaceae J.Agardh genus Allium L.

Synonyms.

Allium senescens auct. non L.

Morphology and biology.

Perennial. Geophyte. Bulbous. Bulbs 0.8-1(2) cm wide, conical, entirely covered with brown, scarious tunics, arranged 1-4 on short oblique rhizome. Scape up to 50 cm high, straight, narrowly winged, terete. Leaves 5-11 mm wide, linear, flat, straight or falcate, slightly or 2 times shorter than the scape. Umbel many-flowered, hemispherical, 2.5-4 cm in diameter. Pedicels 1 to 2.5 times as long as tepals, without bracts at the base. Tepals 3.5-6 mm long, pinkish-lilac, with thin poorly distinct vein, ovate, broadly ovate, obtuse; outer ones slightly shorter than inner ones. Filaments slightly or up to 1/3 longer than tepals, inner ones subulate from the broadened base. Style slightly or up to 1/3 exserted from perianth. Autochore. Flowers in July - August, fruits in September. 2n=32.

Distribution.

Far East (southern Primorie Territory), China (northeastern).

Ecology.

Cryophyte. Photophilous. On debris slopes in alpine montane zone.

Use and economic value.

Food, ornamental. Wild relative of cultivated onions.

References:

Kharkevich SS., ed. 1987. Vascular plants of the Soviet Far East. V.2. Leningrad: Nauka. 446 p. (In Russian).

© I.G.Chukhina

© Photo by T.A.Sinitsyna