Allium crenulatum |
Allium membranaceum |
|
---|---|---|
Olympic onion, scalloped onion |
papery onion |
|
Bulbs | 1–6+, replaced annually with new bulbs borne terminally on rhizomes; rhizomes 1–2, secondary, short; parent bulb disappearing by anthesis except for still-functional roots and shriveled bulb coat, oblique-ovoid, 1–2 × 0.8–1.8 cm; outer coats not or only partially enclosing bulbs, brown to gray-brown, membranous, lacking cellular reticulation or cells arranged in only 2–3 rows distal to roots, ± quadrate, without fibers; inner coats white, cells very obscurely quadrate or not visible. |
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 | usually deciduous with scape, withering from tip at anthesis, (1–)2, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, falcate, 10–33 cm × 1.5–10 mm, margins sometimes minutely denticulate. |
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 | usually forming abcission layer and deciduous with leaves after seeds mature, frequently breaking at this level after pressing, solitary, ± erect, solid, flattened, winged distally, wings frequently crenulate proximal to umbel, 5–15 cm × 1–5 mm. |
persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, 15–40 cm × 1–3 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, compact, 10–25-flowered, conic to hemispheric, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 8–10-veined, lanceolate, ± equal, apex acute. |
persistent, erect, loose, 15–35-flowered, ± globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 4–6-veined, lanceolate, ± equal, apex acuminate, setaceous. |
Flowers | campanulate, 6–12 mm; tepals erect, pinkish with deeper pink midveins, lanceolate, ± equal, becoming papery in fruit, margins entire, apex acute; stamens included; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow; ovary obscurely crested; processes 3, central, 2-lobed, minute, margins entire; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 6–16 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. |
coat dull; cells each with minute, central papilla. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Allium crenulatum |
Allium membranaceum |
|
Phenology | Flowering late May–Jul. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Talus slopes and clay soils, including serpentine, on bald summits and ridges | Wooded, shady slopes |
Elevation | 600–2500 m (2000–8200 ft) | 200–1400 m (700–4600 ft) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
|
CA |
Discussion | Allium crenulatum is known only from west of the Cascade Mountains from Vancouver Island to southwestern Oregon, in Jefferson Park, Oregon, and in the Wenatchee Mountains, central Washington. The disjunct populations of Allium crenulatum in western Oregon are markedly different among themselves and from the more typical representatives to the north. It has thus far proven impossible to draw meaningful taxonomic distinctions among these populations, hence we have followed historical precedent and have placed them all in a single, highly variable species. (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. 274. | FNA vol. 26, p. 256. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. cascadense, A. vancouverense, A. watsonii | |
Name authority | Wiegand: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 135, plate 355, fig. 1. (1899) | Ownbey ex Traub: Pl. Life 28: 63. (1972) |
Web links |