Allium siskiyouense
North American native wild onion from the Siskiyou Mountains forming solitary ovoid bulbs with a tall scape and a hemispheric pink-tepaled umbel of 10–35 flowers on heavy clay or serpentine soils at 900–2500 m.
Common Names
Siskiyou Onion
Summary
Siskiyou onion is a small, perennial Allium native to the Siskiyou Mountains in northern California and southern Oregon, growing in heavy rocky soils including serpentine at mid to high elevations. It has an erect, narrow flat stem 1–3 inches tall, two flat sickle-shaped leaves longer than the flowering stem, and pink bulbs near or at the soil surface; the flower head sits atop two bracts and bears 10–35 rose to bright pink flowers with erect petals and darker midveins, stamens about half as long as the petals, flowering in late spring.
In cultivation, it grows in serpentine and other rocky soils and is suitable for rock, alpine, and xeriscaping plantings; drought-tolerant and low maintenance, hardy in zones 5–8.
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
1-3 inches
Hardiness Zones
Zones 5-8
Sunlight Requirements
Full Sun to Partial Shade.
Soil Type
Serpentine soil
Soil Drainage
Well-drained soil (dry, rocky or sandy).
Bloom Color
Pink
Bloom Time
Spring
Leaf Lifecycle
Deciduous
Seasons of Interest
Spring and Summer
Propagation Methods
Seeds
Attracts Wildlife
Attracts bees, butterflies, and other pollinators
Taxonomy
- Taxonomic Rank
- Species
- Author
- Ownbey ex Traub
- Publication
- Pl. Life 28: 63 (1972)
Superior Taxa
- Kingdom
- Plantae
- Subkingdom
- Pteridobiotina
- Phylum
- Angiosperms
- Order
- Asparagales
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Genus
- Allium