Allium columbianum |
Allium nigrum |
|
---|---|---|
Columbia onion, Columbian onion |
black garlic, Homer's garlic |
|
Bulbs | 1–5+, not clustered on stout, primary rhizome, ovoid, 1–1.5 × 0.8–1.4 cm; outer bulb coats brownish or grayish, enclosing 1 or more bulbs, membranous, lacking cellular reticulation or cells arranged in only 2–3 rows distal to roots, ± quadrate, without fibers; inner coats white to pink, cells obscure, ± quadrate. |
3–4, not clustered on stout, primary rhizomes, ovoid, asymmetric, 2.5–3 × 2–5 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, light yellow to light brown, thin, papery, chartaceous, cells narrow, vertically elongate, without fibers; inner coats white, cells narrow, vertically elongate. |
Leaves | usually persistent, green at anthesis, 2, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, broadly channeled, ± falcate, 10–35 cm × (2–)5–8 mm, margins entire. |
usually persistent, 3–6, scarcely ensheathing scape even basally, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, broadly channeled, 10–60 cm × 10–25 mm, margins entire. |
Scape | persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, enlarged proximal to inflorescence, (10–)20–30(–40) cm × 1.5–4 mm. |
usually persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, fistulose, 60–100 cm × 5–10 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, compact, 25–50-flowered, hemispheric to globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 3, 5–7-veined, ovate, ± equal, apex acute. |
persistent, erect, compact, 75–150-flowered, hemispheric-globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2–4, 11+-veined, ovate, ± equal, apex acuminate. |
Flowers | ± stellate, (6–)7–8(–10) mm; tepals spreading, light pink to purple with prominent green midribs, narrowly lanceolate, ± equal, becoming papery in fruit, margins entire, apex acuminate; stamens equaling or longer than tepals; anthers blue-gray; pollen light blue to gray; ovary crested; processes 6, 2 per lobe, low, rounded, margins entire; style exserted, linear; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 10–20 mm. |
stellate to subcampanulate, 6–9 mm; tepals ± spreading, white with green midvein, narrowly oblong, ± equal, becoming ± rigid and reflexed in fruiting, margins entire, apex obtuse; stamens included; anthers yellow or purple, aborting without producing pollen; ovary crestless; style linear, ± equaling tepals; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, obscurely 3-lobed; pedicel 25–40 mm. |
Seed | coat shining; cells smooth. |
coat not known. |
2n | = 14. |
|
Allium columbianum |
Allium nigrum |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | Flowering Jun. |
Habitat | Winter-wet, shallow soils on rock outcrops, or wet meadows | Disturbed roadsides |
Elevation | 300–1100 m (1000–3600 ft) | 100–200 m (300–700 ft) |
Distribution |
ID; MT; WA
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OR; native to Mediterranean; cultivated in Europe [Introduced in North America] |
Discussion | Native to the Mediterranean and long-cultivated in Europe, Allium nigrum is reported to be well established near Perrydale, Oregon, and may be expected elsewhere in North America. This species is remarkable in its lack of an onion/garlic odor. It is also unusual in having more than two ovules in each locule, a characteristic of sect. Melanocrommyum Webb & Berthelot but otherwise unusual in the genus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 26. | FNA vol. 26, p. 243. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. douglasii var. columbianum | |
Name authority | (Ownbey & Mingrone) P. M. Peterson: Syst. Bot. 13: 211. (1988) | : Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 430. (1762) |
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