Allium textile

Native

Dry. Prairies. Full sun.

May to June

White, rarely pink, with red or reddish-brown midribs

4″ to 12″

This is an erect, perennial, forb rising from 1 to 3, sometimes more, clustered bulbs.

The bulbs are ½″ to 1″ tall, ⅜″ to ¾″ wide, and egg-shaped to cone-shaped. They are encased in a brownish or grayish membranous coating. They gradually taper to the stem.

One or two basal leaves arise at the soil surface. They rise to or above the level of the stem. They are 4″ to 15″ long, about ⅛″ wide, half-round, more or less straight, and solid. There is a deep, wide, rounded channel running the length of the blade. The leaves remain green after the flowers are fully formed.

A single flowering stem (scape) rises from the base. It is 2″ to 12″ tall and leafless. It is curved or bent slightly toward the top, somewhat zigzagged. It becomes rigid when the plant is in fruit.

The inflorescence is a single, 1″ wide, umbrella-like flowering cluster at the top of the scape. The cluster is shaped like half of a sphere. It has 15 to 30 flowers and no bulblets. There are two bracts at the base of the cluster that soon fall off.

The flowers are ¼″ long and pitcher-shaped, contracted near the mouth like a pitcher or urn, or bell-shaped. They are composed of 6 tepals (3 petals and 3 sepals that are similar in appearance). The tepals are white or, rarely, pink, and have red or reddish-brown midribs. 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 shiny seed capsule. The pedicels become stouter and longer, up to 2″ long, with the fruit.

Meadow garlic (Allium canadense var. canadense) is a taller plant, reaching 1′ to 2′ at maturity. 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 ½″ wide and bell-shaped.

Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum var. cernuum) is a taller plant, reaching 1′ to 2′ at maturity. It blooms much later, July to September. It has 3 to 5 basal leaves. The leaves are flat and soft. The scape rises higher than the leaves and nods near the top. The tepals are white to pink and do not have differently-colored midribs.

Prairie onion (Allium stellatum) is a taller plant, reaching 1′ to 2′ at maturity. It blooms much later, July to September. It has 3 to 5 basal leaves. The leaves are flat and soft. The scape rises higher than the leaves and nods near the top when the flowers are in bud but becomes erect by the time the flowers are fully open. The tepals are white to pink and do not have differently-colored midribs.