| Tapertip onion | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Allium |
| Subgenus: | A. subg. Amerallium |
| Species: | A. acuminatum
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| Binomial name | |
| Allium acuminatum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Allium acuminatum, also known as the tapertip onion or Hooker's onion, is a species in the genus Allium native to North America.
Distribution[edit]
It is found the Western United States and Canada. It has been reported from every state west of the Rocky Mountains, plus British Columbia.[2][3]
Description[edit]
Allium acuminatum produces bulbs that are spherical, less than 2 cm across and smelling like onions.[4] Scape is up to 40 cm tall, wearing an umbel of as many as 40 flowers. The flowers are pink to purple with yellow anthers.[2][5][6][7][8][9][10] The plant also produces two or three grooved leaves which tend to wither prior to bloom.[11] Its native habitats include open, rocky slopes, among brush and pines.[12]
The onions were eaten by first peoples in southern British Columbia. They were harvested in either early spring or late fall and usually cooked in pits.[4] Both the bulb and the flowering stalk are edible; however, in the culinary arts, the stalk possesses a more pleasant flavour.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ Tropicos
- ^ a b Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Allium acuminatum". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
- ^ "Allium acuminatum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
- ^ a b c Turner, Nancy J. Food Plants of Interior First Peoples (Victoria: UBC Press, 1997) ISBN 0-7748-0606-0
- ^ photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, isotype of "Allium acuminatum"
- ^ Hooker, William Jackson. 1838. Flora Boreali-Americana 2: 184, pl. 196.
- ^ Cronquist, A.J., A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren & Reveal. 1977. Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. 6: 1–584. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora. Hafner Pub. Co., New York.
- ^ Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley
- ^ Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. 1: 1–914. In C. L. Hitchcock, Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
- ^ Scoggan, H. J. 1978 [1979]. Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae, Monocotyledoneae. 2: 93–545. In Flora of Canada. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa.
- ^ Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 76. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
- ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
External links[edit]
Media related to Allium acuminatum at Wikimedia Commons- Jepson Manual Treatment
- USDA Plants Profile
- Flora of North America
- Allium acuminatum in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley
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