Allium triquetrum |
Allium cepa |
|
---|---|---|
three-corner leek, three-cornered leek, white flower onion |
cultivated onion, garden onion |
|
Bulbs | 5–20+, not clustered on stout primary rhizome, rhizomes absent, increase bulbs absent or ± equaling parent bulbs, never appearing as basal cluster, ovoid, 1–2 × 1–2 cm; outer coats enclosing renewal bulbs, ± translucent, yellow-brown, obscurely cellular-reticulate, thin, membranous, meshes delicate, cells vertically elongate, contorted, without fibers; inner coats white, cells obscure, quadrate, or not visible. |
1–3, not rhizomatous, mostly depressed-globose, varying in size from cultivar to cultivar, 5–8 × 3–10 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, yellowish brown, red, or white, membranous, without reticulation; inner coats white to pink, cells obscure to quadrate. |
Leaves | persistent, green at anthesis, 2–3, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, not falcate, ± carinate, 15–50 cm × 3–15 mm, margins entire. |
persistent, 4–10, sheathing proximal 1/6–1/4 scape; blade fistulose, usually ± semicircular in cross section, 10–50 cm × 4–20 mm. |
Scape | persistent, clustered, 1–4, erect, solid, sharply 3-angled, 10–40 cm × 1–10 mm. |
persistent, solitary, erect, fistulose, inflated below middle, 30–100 cm × 3–20 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, lax, loose, 3–15-flowered, ± 1-sided, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 1–2, 3-veined, narrowly lanceolate, ± equal, apex acute. |
persistent, erect, compact, to 500-flowered, globose, bulbils occasionally found; spathe bracts caducous, 2–3, 3–4-veined, ovate, ± equal, apex acute to acuminate. |
Flowers | becoming pendent, campanulate, 10–18 mm; tepals erect to spreading, white with prominent green midrib, lanceolate, ± equal, becoming membranous in fruit, margins entire, apex acute; stamens included; anthers yellow; pollen yellow; ovary crestless; style linear, ± equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 15–25 mm. |
stellate to campanulate to urceolate, 3–7 mm; tepals erect to ± spreading, white to pink with greenish midveins, withering in fruit, margins entire, apex obtuse or acute, outer ovate, inner oblong; stamens exserted; anthers white; pollen white; ovary crestless; style linear, ± equaling stamens; stigma capitate, unlobed; pedicel 10–50 mm. |
Seed(s) | coat dull; cells minutely roughened. |
coat not known. |
2n | = 18. |
|
Allium triquetrum |
Allium cepa |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Apr. | Flowering Jun–Aug. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites | Disturbed sites adjacent to areas where cultivated |
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; sw Europe [Introduced in North America]
|
AR; CA; KS; LA; MT; OR; TX; WA; cultivated in Europe; Asia
|
Discussion | Allium triquetrum is a garden escape, introduced from southwestern Europe, and is potentially a noxious weed. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The onion of commerce, Allium cepa is widely cultivated as a biennial in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is unknown in the wild and is probably derived from A. oschanini of central Asia. The cultivated form is often polyploid (2n = 16, 32, 54) and possibly of hybrid origin. It exists in numerous cultivars, a few of which form large bulbils in the umbel. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 257. | FNA vol. 26, p. 244. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 300. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 301. (1753) |
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