Allium tuberosum |
Allium membranaceum |
|
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Chinese chive, garlic chives, oriental garlic |
papery onion |
|
Bulbs | 1–3, borne on stout, ± horizontal rhizome, elongate, cylindric or conic, 0.5–1.5 × 0.7–2 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, brown, reticulate, cells ± fine-meshed, open, fibrous; inner coats white, cells closely parallel, elongate. |
1–3, producing bulbels in basal cluster around roots, ovoid, 1–1.6 × 0.9–1.4 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, brown, membranous, obscurely cellular-reticulate, cells quadrate, walls very sinuous, without fibers; inner coats white or pink, cells obscure, quadrate. |
Leaves | withering from tip by anthesis, 2–5, sheathing scape to ± soil level; blade solid, flat, carinate abaxially, 20–40 cm × 2–6 mm, margins entire. |
persistent, green at anthesis, 2–3, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, 15–40 cm × 3–5 mm, margins entire. |
Scape | persistent, solitary, erect, terete, 30–50 cm × 1–3 mm. |
persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, 15–40 cm × 1–3 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, loose, 20–50-flowered, hemispheric-globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 1–3, 3–7-veined, lance-ovate, shorter than pedicel, apex acuminate. |
persistent, erect, loose, 15–35-flowered, ± globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 4–6-veined, lanceolate, ± equal, apex acuminate, setaceous. |
Flowers | substellate, 4–9 mm; tepals spreading, white with green or brownish midveins, lanceolate to elliptic, ± equal, withering and exposing capsule, margins entire, apex obtuse or acute; stamens included; anthers purple; pollen white; ovary crestless; style linear, ± equaling stamens; stigma capitate, unlobed; pedicel 10–30 mm. |
stellate, 7–12 mm; tepals spreading, pink or less commonly white, ovate to elliptic, ± equal, becoming papery in fruit, not carinate, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, not involute; stamens included; anthers yellow; pollen yellow; ovary crested; processes 6, prominent, central, triangular, short, margins minutely denticulate; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 10–20 mm. |
Seed | coat shining; cells smooth, irregularly shaped, with ± sinuous walls. |
coat dull; cells each with minute, central papilla. |
2n | = 14. |
|
Allium tuberosum |
Allium membranaceum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Roadsides and other disturbed ground | Wooded, shady slopes |
Elevation | 200–1400 m (700–4600 ft) | |
Distribution |
IA; NE; WI; se Asia [Introduced in North America]
|
CA |
Discussion | Allium tuberosum is cultivated in China, Siberia, and North America, and is reported to be established in New England. It may escape anywhere the species is cultivated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Allium membranaceum is found in the foothills of the northern and central Sierra Nevada. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 240. | FNA vol. 26, p. 256. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Rottler ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 38. (1825) | Ownbey ex Traub: Pl. Life 28: 63. (1972) |
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