Allium crenulatum |
Allium praecox |
|
---|---|---|
Olympic onion, scalloped onion |
early 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, increase bulbs absent or ± equaling parent bulbs, never appearing as basal cluster, not clustered on stout primary rhizome, ovoid to globose, 1–1.8 × 1–1.7 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, gray-brown to brown, prominently cellular-reticulate, membranous, cells arranged in ± vertical rows, forming irregular herringbone pattern, transversely elongate, V-shaped, without fibers; inner coats white, cells obscure, ± transversely elongate, contorted. |
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, withering from tip by anthesis, 2–3, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, broadly channeled, carinate, 20–75 cm × 5–10 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, 20–60 cm × 2–4 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, compact, 10–25-flowered, conic to hemispheric, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 8–10-veined, lanceolate, ± equal, apex acute. |
shattering after seeds mature, each flower deciduous with its pedicel as a unit, erect, loose, 5–40-flowered, hemispheric, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 5–7-veined, lanceolate to lance-ovate, ± equal, apex acuminate. |
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, 6–13 mm; tepals spreading at anthesis, white to pale pink with purple midveins, lance-ovate to ovate, ± equal, becoming papery and connivent over capsule, margins entire, apex acute, obtuse, or emarginate; stamens included; anthers purple and yellow; pollen yellow; ovary crested; processes 3, central, 2-lobed, minute, margins entire; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 15–40 mm. |
Seed | coat shining; cells smooth. |
coat shining; cells minutely roughened. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Allium crenulatum |
Allium praecox |
|
Phenology | Flowering late May–Jul. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Talus slopes and clay soils, including serpentine, on bald summits and ridges | Clay soil on shaded, grassy slopes near coast |
Elevation | 600–2500 m (2000–8200 ft) | 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) |
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
|
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 274. | FNA vol. 26, p. 263. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. cascadense, A. vancouverense, A. watsonii | A. hyalinum var. praecox |
Name authority | Wiegand: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 135, plate 355, fig. 1. (1899) | Brandegee: Zoë 5: 228. (1906) |
Web links |