Allium tuberosum |
Allium platycaule |
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Chinese chive, garlic chives, oriental garlic |
broad-stem onion, flat-stem onion |
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Bulbs | 1–3, borne on stout, ± horizontal rhizome, elongate, cylindric or conic, 0.5–1.5 × 0.7–2 cm; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, brown, reticulate, cells ± fine-meshed, open, fibrous; inner coats white, cells closely parallel, elongate. |
1–5+, not clustered on stout primary rhizomes, renewal bulbs formed within coats of parent bulb, ovoid, 2–3 × 1.4–2.5 cm, increase bulbs ± equaling parent bulbs, rhizomes absent; outer coats enclosing 1 or more bulbs, gray or brown, membranous, lacking cellular reticulation or cells arranged in only 2–3 rows distal to roots, ± quadrate, without fibers; inner coats white, cells obscure, quadrate to rectangular, or not visible. |
Leaves | withering from tip by anthesis, 2–5, sheathing scape to ± soil level; blade solid, flat, carinate abaxially, 20–40 cm × 2–6 mm, margins entire. |
usually deciduous with scape, withering from tip at anthesis, 2, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flat, falcate, 10–30-cm × 8–18 mm, margins entire. |
Scape | persistent, solitary, erect, terete, 30–50 cm × 1–3 mm. |
usually forming abcission layer and deciduous with leaves after seeds mature, frequently breaking at this level after pressing, solitary, erect, solid, strongly flattened, winged distally, 7–25 cm × 2–7 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, loose, 20–50-flowered, hemispheric-globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 1–3, 3–7-veined, lance-ovate, shorter than pedicel, apex acuminate. |
persistent, erect, loose, 30–90-flowered, globose, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2–5, 10–15-veined, lanceolate to broadly ovate, ± equal, apex acuminate. |
Flowers | substellate, 4–9 mm; tepals spreading, white with green or brownish midveins, lanceolate to elliptic, ± equal, withering and exposing capsule, margins entire, apex obtuse or acute; stamens included; anthers purple; pollen white; ovary crestless; style linear, ± equaling stamens; stigma capitate, unlobed; pedicel 10–30 mm. |
stellate, 8–15 mm; tepals spreading, bright pink to rose, narrowly lanceolate, ± equal, becoming erect, rigid, constricted distal to ovary in fruit, margins entire, apex long-acuminate; stamens exserted; anthers yellow; pollen gray; ovary crestless; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed, apex acute; pedicel 10–25 mm. |
Seed | coat shining; cells smooth, irregularly shaped, with ± sinuous walls. |
coat dull or shining; cells smooth. |
2n | = 14. |
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Allium tuberosum |
Allium platycaule |
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Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering May–Jun. |
Habitat | Roadsides and other disturbed ground | Rocky, sandy slopes |
Elevation | 1500–2500 m (4900–8200 ft) | |
Distribution |
IA; NE; WI; se Asia [Introduced in North America]
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CA; NV; OR
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Discussion | Allium tuberosum is cultivated in China, Siberia, and North America, and is reported to be established in New England. It may escape anywhere the species is cultivated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 240. | FNA vol. 26, p. 274. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Rottler ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 38. (1825) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 14: 234. (1879) |
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