Allium unifolium |
Allium denticulatum |
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American garlic, one-leaf onion |
tooth onion, tooth wild onion |
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Bulbs | solitary, replaced annually by new bulbs borne terminally on secondary rhizome; rhizomes 1–3, conspicuous, to 5 cm, smooth; parent bulbs disappearing by anthesis except for still-functional roots and bulb coat, ovoid to oblique-ovoid, 1–2 × 0.8–1.5 cm; outer coats not enclosing bulbs, pale brown, delicately cellular-reticulate, membranous, cells ± rectangular, without fibers; inner coats white, cells obscure, ± transversely elongate, contorted. |
1–2, not clustered on stout, primary rhizome, ovoid to ± globose, 1–1.4 × 0.1–0.14 cm; outer coats enclosing single bulb, reddish brown, membranous, usually lacking cellular reticulation or cells arranged in only 2–3 rows distal to roots, ± quadrate, without fibers; inner coats pale brown to white, cells obscure, quadrate. |
Leaves | persistent, green or withering from tip at anthesis, 2–3, basally sheathing, sheaths not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, flattened, sometimes carinate abaxially, ± falcate, 18–50 cm × 4–10 mm, margins entire. |
persistent, withering from tip by anthesis, 1, basally sheathing, sheath not extending much above soil surface; blade solid, terete, 12–30 cm × 1–3 mm. |
Scape | persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, 20–80 cm × 2–7 mm. |
persistent, solitary, erect, solid, terete, 5–15 cm × 1–2 mm. |
Umbel | persistent, erect, loose, 15–35-flowered, hemispheric, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2, 6–8-veined, lance-ovate to broadly ovate, ± equal, apex acuminate. |
persistent, erect, compact, 5–30-flowered, hemispheric, bulbils unknown; spathe bracts persistent, 2–3, 4–6-veined, lance-ovate to ovate, ± equal, apex acuminate. |
Flowers | stellate, 11–15 mm; tepals spreading, bright pink or rarely white, obovate to ovate, unequal, becoming papery and connivent over capsule, margins entire, apex acute to obtuse or emarginate, inner shorter and narrower than outer; stamens included; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow or gray; ovary crestless, 3-grooved, with thickened ridge on either side of groove; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed or obscurely 3-lobed; pedicel 15–40 mm. |
urceolate, 9–17 mm; tepals erect, purple, lanceolate to lance-ovate, unequal, becoming rigid and ± keeled in fruit, margins minutely denticulate at least distally, apex acute, ± straight at tip, inner slightly shorter and narrower than outer; stamens included; anthers yellow; pollen yellow; ovary crested; processes 6, prominent, ± triangular, margins entire to notched or irregularly papillose; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, 3-lobed, lobes slender, recurved; pedicel 5–25 mm. |
Seed | coat dull; cells minutely roughened. |
coat dull or shining; cells minutely roughened. |
2n | = 14. |
= 14. |
Allium unifolium |
Allium denticulatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Jun. | Flowering mid Apr–mid Jul. |
Habitat | Moist, clay soils, including serpentine, usually along streams | Sandy, rocky soil, Techachapi Mountains and desert slopes, western Mojave Desert, California |
Elevation | 0–1100 m (0–3600 ft) | 900–1600 m (3000–5200 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
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CA
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Discussion | The long, relatively thick rhizomes that develop annually from the bulbs are very characteristic of Allium unifolium and almost unique in North America. Only A. glandulosum Link & Otto and A. rhizomatum Wooton & Standley have similar rhizomes, but these species are not closely related to A. unifolium. Allium unifolium is known only from the Coast Ranges. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 258. | FNA vol. 26. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Allium | Liliaceae > Allium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. grandisceptrum, A. unifolium var. lacteum | A. fimbriatum var. denticulatum |
Name authority | Kellogg: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 2: 112, fig. 35. (1863) | (Ownbey & Aase ex Traub) McNeal: Aliso 13: 414. (1992) |
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