LILY FAMILY. Liliace&c 



Wild Onions are easily recognized by their characteristic 

 taste and odor. They mostly have coated bulbs; their 

 leaves are long and narrow, from the base; the flower-stalk 

 bears a roundish, bracted cluster of rather small, white, 

 pink, or magenta flowers, on slender pedicels, their six 

 divisions nearly alike and each with a stamen attached to 

 its base. The bracts enclose the buds, before blooming, in 

 a case and the capsule contains six, black, wrinkled seeds. 

 There are numerous kinds, very widely distributed, not 

 easily distinguished, some resembling Brodiaea, but the 

 latter never smell of onion. A Ilium is the Latin for 

 "garlic." 



_ . From four to ten inches high, with a few 



Pink Wild Onion , 

 Allium leaves. Before blooming, the flower clus- 



acuminbtum ter is enveloped in two papery bracts, 



Pink forming a beautiful pink and white, irides- 



NorthweTt 1111116 ' CGnt CaSGf the ShapG f E tumi P' at the ti P 

 of the stalk. Later these bracts split apart 



and disclose a cluster of pretty flowers, usually very deep 

 pink in color, the divisions each with a darker line on the 

 outside, the anthers pale-yellow. This is very gay and 

 attractive, often growing in patches on dry hillsides and 

 fields. The flowers last a long time in water, gradually be- 

 coming paler in color and papery in texture. The bulb is 

 marked with veins. 



Six to ten inches tall, with two slightly 

 Wild Onion thickish leaves, and usually two slender 



Allium btsceptrum _ . . f * 1 



Pink white flower stalks, each bearing a graceful clus- 



Spring ter of starry, white, pink or pinkish-purple 



Utah, Nev., Cal. flowers, each petal delicately striped with 

 pinkish-brown, the anthers pink, the ovary green, with 

 three, tiny, double crests. These flowers are exceedingly 

 delicate and pretty, growing among rocks in shady canyons. 

 The bulb is usually red-coated. 



The flower cluster of Allium serratum is much more com- 

 pact than the last and the pink flowers change to deep 

 purplish-pink as they fade, making a pretty, round, papery 

 head, about an inch and a half across. Common on low 

 hills in California. 



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