Allium stellatum
Species of flowering plant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allium stellatum, commonly known as the autumn onion, prairie onion,[1] cliff onion,[2] or glade onion,[3] is a North American species of wild onion in the Amaryllidaceae family that is native to central Canada and the central United States.
| Allium stellatum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Allium |
| Subgenus: | A. subg. Amerallium |
| Species: | A. stellatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Allium stellatum | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
Allium stellatum is a perennial forming a bulb underground. An erect, leafless scape up to 30–60 centimetres (1–2 ft) tall arises from grass-like basal leaves that are up to 30 centimetres (1 ft) long. [4][5] The leaves die back as the rounded umbel of pink to purple flowers[4] forms at the end of the scape in the summer. The umbel is approximately 5–8 centimetres (2–3 in) across, and each of the tiny flowers is slightly longer than 0.6 centimetres (.25 in), with 3 petals and 3 sepals that flare outward.[5] The bulbs are strongly flavored but edible.[4]
Etymology
The genus name Allium is from the classical Latin name for garlic. The species name stellatum is botanical Latin for "starry", and refers to the umbels. This species was described for science by John Bellenden Ker Gawler in 1813.[6][7]
