Habit: Outer bulb coat generally brown to gray, inner generally white.
Stem: scapose, cylindric, triangular in ×-section, or flat.
Leaf: basal, 1--5[12] per stem, linear, cylindric, channeled, or flat, generally withering from tip before flower.
Inflorescence: umbel, flowers 3--many, rarely all or in part replaced by bulblets; bracts generally 2--4, obvious, +- fused, scarious.
Flower: perianth parts +- free, generally with darker or contrasting midvein, outer generally wider; filaments fused into a ring; ovary with 0, 3, or 6 crests, ovules generally 2 per chamber.
Seed: obovoid, generally unappendaged.
Species In Genus: 700 species: generally northern temperate, especially California.
Etymology: (Latin: garlic)
Note: Replanting bulbs after study essential for survival of pl; shape, arrangement of cells of outer bulb coat (outer bulb coat sculpture) generally important in identification, generally determined only with magnification; color of outer bulb coat may be masked by substrate; stem lengths from top of bulb to base of inflorescence, not from substrate surface.
Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal & Julie A. Kierstead
Reference: McNeal & Jacobsen 2002 FNANM 26:224--276; Wheeler et al. 2013 Amer J Bot 100:701--711
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Allium
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