Allium cernuum

Allium cernuum
Allium cernuum
Allium cernuum in Anacortes, Washington
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Plantae
clade: Angiosperms
clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species: A. cernuum
Binomial name
Allium cernuum
Roth

Allium cernuum, known as nodding onion and lady's leek, is a perennial plant in the genus Allium.

It has an unsheathed slender conic bulb which gradually tapers directly into several keeled grass-like leaves (2–4 mm wide). Each mature bulb bears a single flowering stem, which terminates in a downward nodding umbel of white or rose flowers. Nodding onion blooms in July or August. The flowers mature into spherical crested fruits which later split open to reveal the dark shiny seeds. This plant does not have bulblets in the inflorescence. This plant grows in dry woods, rock outcroppings, and prairies. It is native to North America from New York to British Columbia south to Virginia and Kentucky and south in the mountains. The bulb is edible and has a strong onion flavor.

This species is cultivated for its attractive flowers. Allium cernuum form major has larger plants and larger flowers than the normal species.

External links

Media related to Allium cernuum at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Allium cernuum at Wikispecies