Burke: Allium geyeri vs. Allium macrum

	Allium geyeri	Allium macrum
	Geyer's onion	rock onion
Habit	Scapose perennial, usually from a cluster of ovoid bulbs enclosed in fibrous, outer coats with a coarse network pattern; scapes 1-5 dm. tall, nearly terete.	Scapose perennials from ovoid bulbs, usually solitary, outer coats brownish, without a network pattern.
Leaves	Leaves usually 3 or more per scape, concave-convex in cross section, 1-5 mm. broad, usually shorter than the scape, green, becoming brown and persisting.	Leaves 2, much longer than the scape, concave-convex or flattened, narrow, tardily deciduous; scape nearly terete, somewhat ridged, up to 1 dm. tall.
Flowers	Umbels 10- to 25-flowered, the pedicels equal in length, nearly twice the length of the perianth, becoming stiffly spreading in fruit; tepals 6, 6-8 mm. long, ovate to lanceolate, pink to rarely white; stamens 6, shorter than the tepals; ovary inconspicuously crested with 6 low, rounded knobs.	Umbel several- to many-flowered, pedicels 1-3 times as long as the tepals; tepals 5-7 mm. long, lanceolate, pointed, white or pinkish with greenish or reddish midribs; stamens 6, slightly exerted; anthers dark, purplish-brown or reddish.
Fruits	Capsule 3-celled.	Capsule 3-celled and 3-lobed, without a crest.

	Allium geyeri	Allium macrum
Flowering time	May-June	April-May
Habitat	Low meadows and along streams.	Lithosol and barren, gravelly soils in the shrub-steppe.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; southern Vancouver Island to Arizona, east to the Rocky Mountains and northern Great Plains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; central Washington to southern Oregon and southwestern Idaho. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	A. acuminatum, A. amplectens, A. campanulatum, A. cernuum, A. columbianum, A. constrictum, A. crenulatum, A. dictuon, A. douglasii, A. fibrillum, A. macrum, A. nevii, A. robinsonii, A. schoenoprasum, A. scilloides, A. textile, A. tolmiei, A. validum, A. vineale	A. acuminatum, A. amplectens, A. campanulatum, A. cernuum, A. columbianum, A. constrictum, A. crenulatum, A. dictuon, A. douglasii, A. fibrillum, A. geyeri, A. nevii, A. robinsonii, A. schoenoprasum, A. scilloides, A. textile, A. tolmiei, A. validum, A. vineale
Subordinate taxa	A. geyeri var. geyeri, A. geyeri var. tenerum
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, 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: OR, 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

Allium geyeri

Allium macrum

Geyer's onion

rock onion

Habit

Scapose perennial, usually from a cluster of ovoid bulbs enclosed in fibrous, outer coats with a coarse network pattern; scapes 1-5 dm. tall, nearly terete.

Scapose perennials from ovoid bulbs, usually solitary, outer coats brownish, without a network pattern.

Leaves

Leaves usually 3 or more per scape, concave-convex in cross section, 1-5 mm. broad, usually shorter than the scape, green, becoming brown and persisting.

Leaves 2, much longer than the scape, concave-convex or flattened, narrow, tardily deciduous;

scape nearly terete, somewhat ridged, up to 1 dm. tall.

Flowers

Umbels 10- to 25-flowered, the pedicels equal in length, nearly twice the length of the perianth, becoming stiffly spreading in fruit;

tepals 6, 6-8 mm. long, ovate to lanceolate, pink to rarely white;

stamens 6, shorter than the tepals;

ovary inconspicuously crested with 6 low, rounded knobs.

Umbel several- to many-flowered, pedicels 1-3 times as long as the tepals;

tepals 5-7 mm. long, lanceolate, pointed, white or pinkish with greenish or reddish midribs;

stamens 6, slightly exerted;

anthers dark, purplish-brown or reddish.

Fruits