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Onion family, Alliaceae
Short-styled onion, Allium
brevistylum S. Watson (left, right) is
a tall plant whose flowers are borne in a loose umbel. The flowers do not
open widely and the short style, from which the plant takes its names,
can’t be seen easily, as it can with many other onions. The plant’s
stems are much longer than its leaves. It prefers streambanks and other moist
locations, growing to treeline pr higher. At lower altitudes the leaves are
bright green as shown here; at alpine elevations they take on a reddish hue.
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Brandegee's onion. Allium
brandegeei S. Watson (left,
right), grows on gravelly hillsides at all elevations, appearing soon after
the snowmelt. Often there are so many as to almost turn the ground white
with their flowers. Each flower has six tepals and each tepal has a
dark rib, sometimes more obvious on the outer side. The flowers, usually
white, are occasionally pink. The species name refers to Townshend Stith
Brandegee (1843-1925), an American civil engineer, botanist and plant collector,
who collected the plant in the Elk Mountains of Colorado. |
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Hooker’s onion, Allium
acuminatum Hook. (left) grows
to moderately high elevations, blooming after other flowers have gone by.
Its pink to purple flowers are borne in a loose umbel atop a long, thin,
leafless stem. The wispy and inconspicuous leaves have dried up by the time
the flowers appear. Hooker’s (also taper-tip) onion was collected by
Archibald Menzies, ship’s surgeon and botanist of the Vancouver Expedition,
on today’s Vancouver Island in the 1790s and later classified by William
Jackson Hooker, professor of botany in Glasgow. “Acuminate” means
“ taper to a sharp point,” from the shape of the tepals.
Allium
simillimum
L. F. Hend. (right). The pink onion
(right) was photographed on a mountain trail immediately north of the Sun
Valley resort. We identified it as Allium aaseae, a plant that it
resembles. Several botanists have since examined dry specimens and believe
that it is a form of Allium simillimum, a (usually) white-flowered
plant. Since, we have seen other Allium simillimum in varying shades
of pink growing in the Wood River drainage. The name
simillimum, from the Latin, means “similiar to,” possibly
to another species of wild onion. There seems to be no established common
name for the plant.
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Aase's onion, Allium aaseae
Ownbey (left, right) is found only
in southwestern Idaho where it grows on gravely ground in the foothills north
of Boise, northwestward to Eagle, Emmett, and the Weiser area
(Ada, Boise, Gem, Payette, and Washington counties). Formerly
considered rare, it is relatively common within its area of distribution,
growing on dry, sparsely vegetated, sandy slopes. Look for it very early
in the growing season. Beside its attractive color,
the plant is characterized by a short stem--the flowers seem to be lying
on the ground--and two long, thin, curved leaves per flowerhead. Hannah Aase
(1883-1980) was a botanist on the faculty of Washington State University
from 1914 to 1949 who was interested primarily in plant genetics. She surveyed
the genus Allium (with Ownbey), explaining her name on this species.
(Thanks to Mike Mancuso for showing me these plants.) |
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Chive, Allium schoenoprasum
L. (left). Our wild plant appears identical to the
garden chive--as it should; it is the same species. The plant is easily
identified—most everyone knows what chives looks like. Even lacking
its light purple flower head, the typical appearance of its hollow leaves
and its taste should clinch its identification. The species name,
schoenoprasum, is derived from two Greek words meaning “rush”
and “leek.”
Tolmie’s onion, Allium tolmiei
Baker (right) is an attractive, although not a common
plant found in the western part of north-central Idaho. It grows on dry,
gravelly ground and may be identified by its pink flowerheads and its notably
wide, flat, sickle-shaped leaves. These are quite long compared to the
short-stemmed flowerheads. William Frazer Tolmie (1812-1886) was a surgeon
with the Hudson’s Bay Company who was given a plant collection that
included this onion. Tolmie sent the collection to William Jackson Hooker
in England. Subsequently Tolmie’s name was attached to the plant. |
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Geyer’s onion, Allium geyeri S. Watson
(right, left) is a common Rocky Mountain onion that grows,
often in large numbers, along mountain streams and in moist meadows, sometimes
in company with the short-style onion shown above. A tall white-flowered
onion, the bulbils, when present, make identification easy. The species name
honors Charles A. Geyer (1809-1853), a German botanist and plant-hunter who
was hired to collect plants in the western United States in 1843.
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