Nothoscordum bivalve |
Nothoscordum |
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crowpoison, false garlic |
false garlic, false onion |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, scapose, from bulbs. | |||||
Bulbs | globose to subglobose, to 1–1.5 cm diam.; outer coats brown; bulblets absent. |
in general appearance very similar to some species of Allium, without alliaceous odor; outer coats membranous. |
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Leaves | 1–4, sheaths enveloping neck of bulb, hyaline, subtruncate apically; blade filiform or linear, to 30 cm × 1–4(–5) mm, margins entire. |
usually present at flowering time, basal, imbricate, sheathing basally; blade filiform to linear. |
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Scape | solitary (rarely 2), terete, (10–)20–40 cm × 1–3 mm. |
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Inflorescences | umbellate, subtended by spathe bracts; bracts 2, membranous. |
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Umbel | mostly 3–6(–10)-flowered, often asymmetrical, 1–3 cm diam.; bracts persistent, 2, 1–2 cm × 4–8 mm, base coherent, imbricate, margins scarious or hyaline, apex acuminate. |
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Flowers | not fragrant; tepals whitish to cream, at least outer ones with red or purplish red midvein, elliptic, (8–)10–12(–15) × 3–4.5 mm, apex acute or acuminate; filaments simple, adnate to tepals, 5–6 mm; anthers yellow; ovary crestless; style persistent, equaling stamens; stigma unlobed, 3/4 perianth; pedicel erect, 1–2 cm, elongating as flowers develop, but often of several lengths even in fruit. |
fastigiate, withering-persistent; tepals 6, 2-whorled, connate proximal 1/3, 1-veined, subequal; stamens 6, adnate to tepal bases, included; filaments distinct, ± dilated basally, subulate and entire apically; anthers dorsifixed, oblong, introse; ovary superior, sessile, 3-locular; ovules several(–12); style filiform; stigma terminal, small. |
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Fruits | capsular, 3-lobed, membranous, dehiscence loculicidal. |
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Capsules | subglobose or obovoid, 6–8 × 6–8 mm. |
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Seeds | 4–7 per locule. |
black, angled [compressed or almost flat]. |
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Nothoscordum bivalve |
Nothoscordum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Dec. | |||||
Habitat | Open woods, prairies, barrens | |||||
Elevation | 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MO; MS; NC; NM; OH; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; s to South America
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North America; South America |
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Discussion | Species ca. 19 (2 in the flora). All species of Nothoscordum are native to the Americas. Nothoscordum gracile has become naturalized in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia; it spreads rapidly by seeds and bulblets. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 277. | FNA vol. 26, p. 276. | ||||
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Nothoscordum | Liliaceae | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Ornithogalum bivalve, Allium bivalve, Allium striatum, N. striatum, N. texanum | |||||
Name authority | (Linnaeus) Britton: in N. L. Britton and A. Brown, Ill. Fl. N. U.S. 1: 415. (1896) | Kunth: Enum. Pl. 4: 457. (1843) | ||||
Web links |