Allium tuberosum |
Allium praecox |
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Chinese chive, garlic chives, oriental garlic |
early 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. |
1–3, 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 | 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. |
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 | persistent, solitary, erect, terete, 30–50 cm × 1–3 mm. |
persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, 20–60 cm × 2–4 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. |
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 | 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, 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, irregularly shaped, with ± sinuous walls. |
coat shining; cells minutely roughened. |
2n | = 14. |
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Allium tuberosum |
Allium praecox |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jul–Aug. | Flowering Mar–May. |
Habitat | Roadsides and other disturbed ground | Clay soil on shaded, grassy slopes near coast |
Elevation | 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) | |
Distribution |
IA; NE; WI; se Asia [Introduced in North America]
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CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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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. 263. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. hyalinum var. praecox | |
Name authority | Rottler ex Sprengel: Syst. Veg. 2: 38. (1825) | Brandegee: Zoë 5: 228. (1906) |
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