Burke: Allium geyeri vs. Allium scilloides

	Allium geyeri	Allium scilloides
	Geyer's onion	fragile onion, scilla-like 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 perennial from a solitary ovoid bulb, outer coats reddish or 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, flat, recurved, much longer than the scape, and with it breaking of at the ground at maturity; scape flattened and 2-edged; bracts 2 or 3, ovate.
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 few- to several-flowered, pedicels thick, about as long as the tepals; flowers congested, white or pink, becoming red; tepals elliptic to ovate, 7-10 mm. long, the midrib strongly thickened; stamens 6, shorter than the tepals; anthers purple or brown; stigma 3-lobed.
Fruits	Capsule 3-celled.	Capsule 3-celled, without a crest.

	Allium geyeri	Allium scilloides
Flowering time	May-June	March-April
Habitat	Low meadows and along streams.	Scablands and dry, barren, gravelly soils.
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, where endemic in Washington from Douglas to Klickitat counties. [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. macrum, A. nevii, A. robinsonii, A. schoenoprasum, 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: 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 scilloides

Geyer's onion

fragile onion, scilla-like 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 perennial from a solitary ovoid bulb, outer coats reddish or 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, flat, recurved, much longer than the scape, and with it breaking of at the ground at maturity;

scape flattened and 2-edged;

bracts 2 or 3, ovate.

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 few- to several-flowered, pedicels thick, about as long as the tepals;

flowers congested, white or pink, becoming red;

tepals elliptic to ovate, 7-10 mm. long, the midrib strongly thickened;

stamens 6, shorter than the tepals;