Scientific Family
Liliaceae
Other common names
desert onion
Arizona onion
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Similar species
Allium reticulatum var. deserticola
Height
To 8 inches
Riparian
No
Grass-like leaves give rise to waxy, star-shaped white-pink flowers in rounded clusters at the top of a separate stem. The plant has an onion smell.
Leaves usually 2 per stem. Outer bulb scales persisting as a network of coarse, intertwining fibers. Plants without basal bulbels. Flowers of 6 white-pink tepals (sepals and petals) with deeper pink or reddish mid-veins. Flower bracts 3 to 5 veined.
Habitat
Desert flats and rocky foothills.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
1000
High elevation
7000
Flower Characteristics
Waxy, star-like flowers have 6 tepals, each with a reddish midvein. Erect rounded flower clusters of 10 to 20 flowers.
Flower color
White-pink
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves are grass-like to 4 inches long, persistent, green at flowering, usually 2 per bulb and longer than the flower stem.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
None
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
The fruit is a tan capsule with two black seeds in each cell.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Tan
The seed coat is black.