Allium scilloides, called the fragile onion, is a plant species endemic to the USState of Washington. It has been reported from only 4 counties, all on the eastern side of the Cascade Range: Klickitat, Kittitas, Yakima and Grant. It grows on barren, gravelly or rocky slopes at elevations of 300–1300 m.[3][4] The species is sometimes cultivated in other regions as an ornamental.[5]
Allium scilloides growing on dry basalt flats, Douglas County Washington
Description
Allium scilloides produces bulbs along an underground rhizome, each bulb round to egg-shaped, up to 2 cm across. There are usually two thick flattened leaves that curl near the ends and are often nearly prostrate on the ground. Flowers are bell-shaped, about 7 mm across; tepals white, pink or purplish with green midribs; anthers purple; pollen white to gray. Flower buds are often dark red to dark pink before opening.[3][6][7][8][9]
^Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. 1: 1–914. In C. L. Hitchcock Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
^Nelson, Aven. 1926. University of Wyoming Publications in Science. Botany 1(5): 123–124, f. 7.
