Allium peninsulare

Common Names

Mexicali Onion, Peninsula Onion

Summary

Peninsula onion is a North American wild onion native to California, southern Oregon, and Baja California. It forms a bulb 8–15 mm wide and grows as a clumping perennial with two to three channeled to cylindrical leaves and a stem 12–45 cm tall, dying back to the ground after flowering. The inflorescence is a loose umbel of 5–35 flowers on pedicels 0.8–4 cm long; flowers are red-purple with six triangular tepals, inner tepals smaller with teeth along the margins. It is known as Mexicali onion and Peninsula onion, and occurs in valley grassland, foothill woodland, and coastal chaparral up to 1100 m, often on slopes and flats that are winter-wet but summer-dry.

In cultivation, it prefers full sun with moderate water and well-drained soil; drought-tolerant and forms a defined clump; propagation by seed or bulbs. It suits dry flowering beds, containers, meadow or coastal prairie plantings with some summer water, and hosts butterflies and moths in wildlife-friendly landscapes.

Lifecycle

Perennial

Height

4.5-17.5 inches

Spread

1-2 feet

Hardiness Zones

Zone 1

Sunlight Requirements

Full sun to partial shade.

Soil Type

Relatively moist, rocky soil

Soil pH

Tolerates all pH levels

Bloom Color

Pink to red-purple

Bloom Time

Spring

Leaf Lifecycle

Deciduous

Seasons of Interest

Spring and Summer

Propagation Methods

Seeds, Bulblets, Bulbs (bulb division)

Attracts Wildlife

Attracts birds, butterflies, and moths