Allium platycaule

Flat-stem onion
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium
Species:	A. platycaule
Binomial name
Allium platycaule S.Wats.

Allium platycaule is a species of wild onion known as broadstemmed onion or flat-stem onion. It is native to northeastern California, south-central Oregon (Lake County) and northwestern Nevada (Washoe and Humboldt Counties). It is found on slopes of elevations of 1500–2500 m.^[1]

Allium platycaule grows from a gray bulb 2 to 3 cm (3⁄4 to 1+1⁄4 in) wide. Scape is thin and strongly flattened, up to 25 cm (9+3⁄4 in) long but rarely more than 7 mm (1⁄4 in) across. It may be thicker along the midrib and much narrower along the sides. The long, flat leaves are sickle-shaped. Atop the stem is an umbel which may have as many as 90 flowers in it. Each flower may be up to a centimeter and a half wide but the tepals are quite narrow so as to be almost threadlike. The inflorescence therefore may appear be a dense ball of filaments. The flowers are generally bright pink to magenta with yellow anthers.^[2][3][4][5]

Uses

The leaves, bulbs, and seeds were utilized as food by the Northern Paiute people.^[6]

References

1. USDA Plants Profile
2. Jepson Manual Treatment
3. Photo gallery
4. Watson, Sereno. 1879. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 14: 234.
5. Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
6. Ethnobotany

External links

• "Allium platycaule". Plants for a Future.