LILY FAMILY. Liliaceae 
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. Allium is the Latin for 
“‘ garlic,” 
Pink Wild Onion From four to ten inches high, with a few 
A Wiside leaves. Before blooming, the flower clus- 
acuminadtum ter is enveloped in two papery bracts, 
Pink forming a beautiful pink and white, irides- 
Spring, summer 
Makttin eck cent case, the shape of a turnip, at the tip 
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 biscéptrum é ful cl 
Pink; wiite flower stalks, each bearing a grace us- 
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 serrdtum 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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