OregonFlora: Allium constrictum vs. Allium

	Allium constrictum	Allium
		onion
Habit		Plants herbs, perennial, scapose, from tunicate bulbs, with onion odor and taste; bulbs solitary or clustered and dividing at base, or on rhizomes and forming again each year; outer coats, smooth, fibrous, or with cellular reticulations; inner coats membranous.
Leaves		usually withering from tip by anthesis, usually persistent, 1–12; basal; blade usually linear; terete, channeled, or flat (keeled in A. triquetrum and A. unifolium); straight or more or less falcate, usually not petiolate.
Scapes		usually persistent; terete, flattened, or triangular.
Inflorescences		umbellate; flowers sometimes replaced by bulbils; pedicels erect or spreading (lax in A. triquetrum), subtending spathe bracts conspicuous; more or less fused, membranous.
Flowers		erect (pendent in A. triquetrum); tepals 6; in 2 similar whorls; more or less distinct; petal-like, usually persistent; stamens 6; filaments usually broad at base, fused into ring, glabrous (papillose to ciliate proximally); ovary superior, 3-lobed, sometimes crested; crests obscure to prominent; style 1; stigma usually narrowly capitate to more or less 3-lobed.
Fruits		loculicidal capsules.
Seeds		black; smooth and shiny or minutely roughened.

	Allium constrictum	Allium
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion		Mostly Northern Hemisphere. 550–700 species; 34 species treated in Flora. In the recent splitting of Liliaceae sensu lato (Stevens 2012), Allium was classified within the family Amaryllidaceae, in the order Asparagales. All members of Allium smell more or less like onions or garlic and are more or less edible, though not always pleasant tasting. Bulb coat reticulations are frequently important in identification; they are best viewed on the inner surface of the outer coats. Descriptions of reticulations assume 10× magnification. Allium membranaceum (papery onion) was collected in Jackson County in 2010. It may be a waif. This species is known to occur in California. Allium cepa (cultivated onion) occurs as a waif near onion fields and along dirt roads on which they are transported. It is also known from the wild in California and Washington.
Source		Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 133 Nick Otting, Richard Brainerd, Barbara Wilson
Sibling taxa	A. acuminatum, A. ampeloprasum, A. amplectens, A. anceps, A. bisceptrum, A. bolanderi, A. brandegeei, A. campanulatum, A. cernuum, A. crenulatum, A. dictuon, A. douglasii, A. falcifolium, A. fibrillum, A. geyeri, A. lemmonii, A. macrum, A. madidum, A. membranaceum, A. nevadense, A. nevii, A. nigrum, A. parvum, A. peninsulare, A. platycaule, A. punctum, A. robinsonii, A. sanbornii, A. schoenoprasum, A. siskiyouense, A. tolmiei, A. triquetrum, A. unifolium, A. validum, A. vineale
Subordinate taxa		A. acuminatum, A. ampeloprasum, A. amplectens, A. anceps, A. bisceptrum, A. bolanderi, A. brandegeei, A. campanulatum, A. cernuum, A. crenulatum, A. dictuon, A. douglasii, A. falcifolium, A. fibrillum, A. geyeri, A. lemmonii, A. macrum, A. madidum, A. membranaceum, A. nevadense, A. nevii, A. nigrum, A. parvum, A. peninsulare, A. platycaule, A. punctum, A. robinsonii, A. sanbornii, A. schoenoprasum, A. siskiyouense, A. tolmiei, A. triquetrum, A. unifolium, A. validum, A. vineale
Web links	Local floras: WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Allium constrictum

Allium

onion

Habit

Plants herbs, perennial, scapose, from tunicate bulbs, with onion odor and taste; bulbs solitary or clustered and dividing at base, or on rhizomes and forming again each year; outer coats, smooth, fibrous, or with cellular reticulations; inner coats membranous.

Leaves

usually withering from tip by anthesis, usually persistent, 1–12;

basal;

blade usually linear; terete, channeled, or flat (keeled in A. triquetrum and A. unifolium); straight or more or less falcate, usually not petiolate.

Scapes

usually persistent; terete, flattened, or triangular.

Inflorescences

umbellate;

flowers sometimes replaced by bulbils;

pedicels erect or spreading (lax in A. triquetrum), subtending spathe bracts conspicuous; more or less fused, membranous.

Flowers

erect (pendent in A. triquetrum);

tepals 6; in 2 similar whorls; more or less distinct; petal-like, usually persistent;

stamens 6;

filaments usually broad at base, fused into ring, glabrous (papillose to ciliate proximally);

ovary superior, 3-lobed, sometimes crested; crests obscure to prominent;

style 1;

stigma usually narrowly capitate to more or less 3-lobed.

Fruits

loculicidal capsules.

Seeds

black; smooth and shiny or minutely roughened.

Allium constrictum

Allium

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Mostly Northern Hemisphere. 550–700 species; 34 species treated in Flora.

In the recent splitting of Liliaceae sensu lato (Stevens 2012), Allium was classified within the family Amaryllidaceae, in the order Asparagales. All members of Allium smell more or less like onions or garlic and are more or less edible, though not always pleasant tasting. Bulb coat reticulations are frequently important in identification; they are best viewed on the inner surface of the outer coats. Descriptions of reticulations assume 10× magnification. Allium membranaceum (papery onion) was collected in Jackson County in 2010. It may be a waif. This species is known to occur in California. Allium cepa (cultivated onion) occurs as a waif near onion fields and along dirt roads on which they are transported. It is also known from the wild in California and Washington.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 133
Nick Otting, Richard Brainerd, Barbara Wilson

Sibling taxa