LILIACEAE LILY FAMILY 
WILD ONION. NODDING ONION 
Allium cernuum Roth 
The Wild Onion grows on prairies, banks and _ hillsides 
from New York to British Columbia and south to West Virginia, 
Kentucky and New Mexico. It usually has a cluster of 1-2-inch 
bulbs on a short underground stem. 
The flower stalk is 1-2 feet high and the leaves 
somewhat shorter. The many-flowered umbel is 
nodding, hence the name Nodding Onion. Below 
the umbel are 2 short bracts which soon drop off. 
The bell-shaped, white or rose flowers of this 
species bloom in July or August. 
The stamens, longer than the peri- ag 
anth, mature and discharge their x), 
pollen one atatime. Thestigmasdo 3% a 
not open until all 6 anthers have * YORWY 
discharged their pollen, and so 
assure cross-pollination. The capsule 
is 3-lobed and 6-seeded. 
The Wild Leek, Allium tricoccum 
Ait., grows in rich woodland soil. It 
has a cluster of bulbs 1-2 inches high, 
seated on a short underground stem. 
The leaves appear very early in spring 
but wither before flowering time in June and July. 
The flower stalk is 4-5 inches tall and the umbel 
is not nodding. There are usually 2 fairly large 
bracts which at first enclose the flowers but later 
drop off. The pedicels become rigid and more 
than one-half inch long. The flowers are white 
and the stamens are not longer than the perianth. 
The deeply 3-lobed capsule is dehiscent but the 
round and shining black seeds remain on the 
plant for some time. k | Cc 
The Prairie Onion, Allium stellatum Ker, is a rare species in IIli- 
nois and more abundant westward to Missouri, Kansas and Minne- 
sota. Here it occurs on sandy or gravelly prairies of the western 
border counties. The numerous leaves are long, very slender and 
flat, and rise from a small bulb covered with a firm, thick and smooth 
membrane. The erect umbel, which easily distinguishes this species 
from its nearest relative, the Nodding Onion, is at the top of-a naked 
stem or scape and bears many small pink flowers. The Onion odor 
is very mild. 
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