Relatives

Allium tuvinicum (Friesen) Friesen - Tuvinian onion.

Taxonomic position.

Family Alliaceae J.Agardh, genus Allium L.

Synonyms.

Allium stellerianum Willd. subsp. tuvinicum Friesen

Morphology and biology.

Perennial. Geophyte. Bulbous. Bulbs ovoid-conical, covered with violet scarious tunics, arranged by 3-8 on thin ascending rhizome. Scape up to 20 cm tall, erect or slightly ascending. Leaves 1-2 mm wide, semicylindrical, 3-5 in number, condensed at the scape base, not exceeding 1/2 of its height. Umbel dense, semispherical. Pedicels as long as or 1.5 times longer than tepals. Tepals 2-4(5) mm long, yellow, with a pink vein, oblong-elliptic, obtusely acuminate. Filaments equal to or slightly longer than tepals, entire, nearly triangular, inner ones at the base twice as wide as outer ones. Style exserted from perianth. Ovary nearly globous.Autochore. Flowers in July, fruits in August. 2n=32.

Distribution.

Central Siberia (basin of the upper Yenisei, Khakassia, Tuva), Northwestern Mongolia.

Ecology.

Xeropyte. Photophilous. On dry stony and debris mountain slopes.

Use and economic value.

Wild relative of cultivated onions.

References:

Friesen NV. 1988. Onion plants of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka. P.117. (In Russian).
Malyshev LI., Peshkova GA., ed. 1987. Flora of Siberia. V.4. Araceae - Orchidaceae. P.76-77. (In Russian).

© I.G.Chukhina

© Photo by T.A.Sinitsyna