248 



ALLIUM 



ALLIUM 



A. Group I, comprising the vegetable-garden species. 



B. Lvs. terete and hollow. 



c. Plant cespitose (in tufts or clumps) and perennial. 

 1. Schcendprasum, Linn. CHIVES or GIVES. Lva. 

 4-6 in., very many, slender and awl-shaped: scapes 

 equaling the Ivs. ; fls. light purple, small and many in a 



globular head. Eu. 

 The Ivs. are used 

 for seasoning, grow- 

 ing readily as the 

 herbage is cut. Var. 

 sibiricum, Hartm., 

 is a large form in 

 northern N. Amer. 



cc. Plants not in 

 mats, treated 

 practically as 

 annuals (except 

 perhaps No. 6). 

 2. Cepa, Linn. 

 COMMON ONION. 

 Tall, with large 

 tubular Ivs.: scape 

 glaucous, much 

 overtopping the 

 Ivs., swollen near 

 middle; fls. white or 

 bluish in a large 

 globular head-like 

 umbel: bulb not 

 making many off- 

 sets, distinctly 

 rounded at top and 

 bottom. Var. bul- 

 bellifera, Bailey, 

 has bulbels in the 



.157. Allium Moly. (Plant X V> 



place of fls., the top, tree or Egyptian onion. Var. 

 multiplicans, Bailey, has dividing bulbs, the multiplier 

 onion. Persia and adjacent regions. 



3. fistuldsum, Linn. WELSH ONION. Fig. 156. Dif- 

 fers in having no distinct bulb, but only an enlarged 

 base or crown: Ivs. usually more clustered. Siberia. 

 B.M. 1230. 



4. ascalonicum, Linn. SHALLOT. Smaller, 1 ft.: Ivs. 

 many, awl-shaped: fls. lilac: bulbs long and pointed, 

 each one soon separating into many cloves or parts 

 adhering to a common disk. Syria. 



BB. Lvs. not hollow, more or less plane. 



5. sativum, Linn. GARLIC. Plant 12 in. or less: Ivs. 

 very narrow, keeled: fls. purple, often replaced by 

 bulbels: bulbs small, breaking up into many small ones 

 that are more or less covered with the dry scales. Eu. 



6. P6mun, Linn. LEEK. Stout plant, 2 ft. or more: 

 Ivs. very broad and strongly conduplicate or keeled: 

 scape arising the second season; fls. white or blush: 

 bulb simple and scarcely more than an enlargement of 

 the stalk. Eu. 



the scape: fls. large, pure white, with colored stamen, 

 on long pedicels. Eu. Needs protection if grown 

 outdoors. Much used for cut-flowers in winter and 

 spring. The most popular species. A. Hermettii grandi- 

 flbrum, recently intro. from Holland, is a clear whit- 

 odorous variety, well adapted to forcing. 



BBS. Fls. pink, rose, or lilac, 

 c. Segms. with recurved tips. 



10. acuminatum, Hook. Scape 4-10 in. : Ivs. 2-4, no . 

 longer than the scape, very narrow: umbel many-fld., 

 perianth seisms, a third longer than the stamens, th 

 inner ones serrulate. W. Amer. 



cc. Segms. not recurved. 



11. rdseum, Linn. Scape 12-18 in. : Ivs. narrow, wit 

 inrolled tips: fls. few (10-12), on long pedicels in 

 open umbel. S. Eu. B.M. 978. 



12. senescens, Linn. Scape 1-2 ft. : Ivs. narrow, er 

 often twisted: fls. rather small, numerous, in a rathe 

 dense head. Eu. B.M. 1150. 



13. fillisii, Hook. f. Lvs. 4-5, 1 ft., 2^ in. wide, 

 glaucous green: scape 1 ft., very stout, being %in. 

 diam. ; fls. rose with white toward the base, wide-spread- 

 ing, 1 Yz in. or more long and stiff and erect in fr. Persia. 

 B.M. 7875. 



14. albopildsum, C. H. Wright. Very robust: Ivs. 

 strap-shaped, 1 % in. wide, 18 in. or less long: scape 1 ft. 

 as many as 80-fld. ; fls. deep lilac with metallic sheen, the 

 segms. nearly 1 in. long, rigid after flowering. Persia, 

 etc. B.M. 7982. G.C. III. 34:40. Probably the lar- 

 gest-fld., and most imposing garden species. 



AAA. Group III. Native attiums, sometimes advertised. 



The species in Group II, comprise those that are 

 likely to be in general cultivation. Aside from these 

 there are various native species, mostly from western 

 America, which are offered by dealers in American 

 plants. These are recorded below. 



B. Bulbs clustered, narrowly oblong: scape terete. 

 c. Lvs. elliptic-lanceolate, 2 or 3. 



15. tricficcum, Ait. COMMON WILD LEEK. Fig. 159. 

 Fls. greenish white on scape 4-12 in. high in early spring. 

 Grows in clumps. New Eng. to Wis. and N. C. 



cc. Lvs. linear, flat or channelled. 



16. cernuum, Roth. Fls. rose- 

 colored or white, in open, nod- 

 ding umbels. Alleghanies and W. 



17. validum, Wats. Fls. rose- 

 colored or nearly white, in dense 

 erectish umbels: scape 1-2^6 ft., 

 very stout. Nev., Calif., Ore. 



18. haematochiton, Wats. Fls. 

 deep rose, in a small, erect umbel: 

 bulb-coats deep red: scape 1 ft. 

 or less high. Calif. 



AA. Group II. The garden alliums, mostly exotic. 

 B. Fls. yellow. 



7. Moly, Linn. Fig. 157. Lvs. flat, broad: fls. nu- 

 merous, in a dense umbel, in early spring. S. Eu. 



B.M. 499. Well known, and a favorite for mass- 

 ing; common in rock-gardens. Hardy in the N. 



BB. Fls. while or whitish. 

 c. Lvs. very broad, obtuse. 



8. victorialis, Linn. Tall: Ivs. ovate or broad- 

 oblong, short: fls. greenish white, in large heads. 

 Spring. Siberia. B.M. 1222. Hardy. 



cc. Lvs. narrow, acute or tapering. 



9. neapolitanum, Cyr. Fig. 158. Lvs. long 



and rather narrow, loose-spreading, shorter than iss. Allium neapolitanum. 



BB. Bulbs usually solitary, globose 

 to ovate: scape terete or 

 nearly so. 

 c. Coats of bulbs fibrous. 



19. reticulatum, Fraser. Scape 

 3-8 in.; fls. white 

 to roee, with thin 

 segms. W. Amer. 

 B.M. 1840, as A. 

 stellatum. 



20. Geyeri, Wats. 

 A foot high, stouter: fls. 

 rose, with broad acute 

 strongly nerved segms. 

 Amer. 



