prairie onion

(Allium stellatum)

Conservation Status
prairie onion
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Prairie onion is an erect perennial forb rising from 2 to 5, sometimes more, clustered bulbs.

The bulbs are to 1 tall, to 1 wide, and egg-shaped. They are encased in a brownish or grayish membranous coating. They gradually taper to the stem.

Three to five basal leaves arise near together at the soil surface forming a basal rosette. They are shorter than the stem. They are 4 to 18 long, about wide, linear, flat, stiff, and solid, with a small ridge running the length of the blade. They sheath the stem near the soil surface. They remain after the flowers are fully formed.

A single, leafless, flowering stem (scape) rises from the center of the rosette of leaves. When in bud, the scape bends downward (nods) at the top, and the umbel faces toward the ground. By the time the flowers are fully mature the scape is erect and the flowers face upward.

The inflorescence is a single umbrella-like flowering cluster at the top of the scape. The cluster is shaped like half of a sphere. It has 8 to 35 flowers and no bulblets. There are two bracts at the base of the cluster that soon fall off.

The flowers are ¼ to ½ wide and star-shaped. They are composed of 6 white to pink tepals (3 petals and 3 sepals that are similar in appearance). They are on ¼ to ¾ long flower stalks, the inner ones on shorter stalks, the outer ones on longer stalks, like an umbrella. There is no floral fragrance, but the bulb and foliage have an onion-like scent.

The fruit is a seed capsule. The pedicels become stouter with the fruit, growing longer and bending abruptly upright from near the point of attachment.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

1 to 2

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

White to pink

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Meadow garlic (Allium canadense var. canadense) blooms much earlier, May to June. The scape never nods. It has 3 to 6 basally-sheathed leaves, attached only in the lower quarter or third of the stem. The leaves are flat and soft. Most or all of the flowers in the inflorescence have been replaced with bulblets. The flowers are bell-shaped.

Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum var. cernuum) has tall, elongate, slender, and cone-shaped bulbs. The leaves are soft. The scape nods permanently, both when the flowers are in bud and when the flowers are fully open. The individual flowers of prairie onion are bell-shaped.

Textile onion (Allium textile) is a shorter plant, reacing only 4 to 12 at maturity. It blooms much earlier, May to June. It has only 1 or 2 basal leaves. The leaves are half-round, more or less straight, and solid, with a wide, rounded channel running the length of the blade. The scape never nods, and does not rise above the level of the leaves. The tepals are white, only rarely pink, and have red or reddish-brown midribs.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Dry. Prairies, hillsides. Full sun.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

July to September

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

 
  5/19/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Liliopsida (monocots)  
 

Order

Asparagales (agaves, orchids, irises, and allies)  
 

Family

Amaryllidaceae (amaryllis, onions, and allies)  
  Subfamily Allioideae  
  Tribe Allieae  
 

Genus

Allium (onions)  
  Subgenus Amerallium  
  Section Lophioprason  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

autumn onion

autumn wild onion

prairie onion

wild onion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Elongate

Drawn out, lengthened.

 

Linear

Long, straight, and narrow, with more or less parallel sides, like a blade of grass.

 

Pedicel

On plants: the stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers. On insects: the second segment of the antennae. On Hymenoptera and Araneae: the narrow stalk connecting the thorax to the abdomen: the preferred term is petiole.

 

Scape

An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 

Tepal

Refers to both the petals and the sepals of a flower when they are similar in appearance and difficult to tell apart. Tepals are common in lilies and tulips.

 

Umbel

A flat-topped or convex umbrella-shaped cluster of flowers or buds arising from more or less a single point.

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Tom T.

 
 

Wild Onion Flower

 
    prairie onion      
 

Lynn Rubey

 
 

A Prairie Onion with its head nodding in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge on the granite rocks over looking the walking paths.

  prairie onion  
           
 

A Prairie Onion in bloom with its head now erect in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge on the granite rocks over looking the walking paths.

  prairie onion  
           
 

A Prairie Onion starting to erect its head with a Yellow-collared Scape Moth climbing on to a flower blossom The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge on the granite rocks over looking the walking paths.

  prairie onion  
           
 

The Root base of the Prairie Onion nestlesd among the cacti and other plants in The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge on the granite rocks over looking the walking paths.

  prairie onion  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Habitat

 
    prairie onion      
           
 

Plant

 
    prairie onion      
           
 

Inflorescence

 
    prairie onion   prairie onion  
           
 

Infructescence

 
    prairie onion   prairie onion  
           
 

Fruit

 
    prairie onion      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  The Prairie Onion August 3, 2014
The Prairie Orchard
 
   
 
About

Published on Aug 9, 2014

A native species with a beautiful spray of pinkish blue flowers, this plant was part of the native American diet.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
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  Tom T.
9/7/2020

Location: Seven Sisters Prairie

Wild Onion Flower

prairie onion  
  Lynn Rubey
8/20/2019

Location: Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge

A Prairie Onion starting to erect its head with a Yellow-collared Scape Moth climbing on to a flower blossom The Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge on the granite rocks over looking the walking paths.

prairie onion  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

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