34 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



105. ONIONS AND FALSE ONION. ALLIUM AND 



NOTHOSCORDUM. 



Onion-scented, or, in the False Onion, odorless bulbous 

 herbs with sheathing basal leaves. Flowers sometimes re- 

 placed by bulblets (see Fig. 108), in a terminal cluster, the 

 flowers of which are on short stalks that all arise at the 

 same point (an umbel, see Fig. 107). Petals separate or 

 slightly connected at the base. Fruit a small pod. (Liliaceae.) 



Plant odorless ; flowers yellowish-green False Onion no. 106 



Plants onion-scented ; flowers not yellowish green. 

 Leaves oblong, not present at flowering time . . Wild Leek no. 107 

 Leaves narrowly linear, present at flowering time. 

 Flowers green or purple, often replaced by 



bulblets Wild Garlic no. 108 



Flowers white, rose or pink. 



Flowers mostly replaced by bulblets, 



the cluster erect Meadow Garlic no. 109 



Flowers not usually replaced by bulblets, the clusters nod- 

 ding Wild Onion no. 1 10 



106. False Onion. Nothoscordum bivalve. Leaves flat, very 

 narrow, not over % in. wide, as long as, or slightly shorter 

 than the stalk of the flower cluster. Cluster 3-9 flowered, 

 yellowish-green. Flowers about ^ in. long, their stalks of 

 unequal length. June. Virginia to Ohio and Nebraska, thence 

 southward to Mexico, usually in sandy places. 



107. Wild Leek or Onion. Allium tricoccum. Leaves flat, 

 nearly oblong, 6-10 in. long, 1-2^ in. wide, appearing and 

 withering before flowering time. Stalk of the flower cluster 

 6-15 in. long. Flowers white, about y^ in. long, in a many 

 flowered cluster. June. Rich woods. New Brunswick to North 

 Carolina, and westward. Fig. 107. 



108. Wild Garlic. Allium vineale. Stems frequently 2 ft. 

 or more. Leaves 2-4 at flowering time, round and hollow. 

 Flowers numerous, in an erect umbel, green or purple, not 

 over % in. long, often replaced by long-tailed bulblets. June. 

 Fields and waste places. Rhode Island to Tenn., and Missouri. 

 Native of Europe. Fig. 108. 



