Allium textile (prairie onion or textile onion) is a common species of wild onion found in the central part of North America.
Description
A. textile produces egg-shaped bulbs up to 2.5 cm long. There are no rhizomes. Scapes are round in cross-section, up to 40 cm tall. Flowers are bell-shaped or urn-shaped, about 6 mm in diameter; tepals white or pink with reddish-brown midribs; pollen and anthers yellow.
Taxonomy In 1827 George Don described a new species in the genus Allium, however he named it Allium reticulatum, a name that had already been used in 1819 by Jan Svatopluk Presl and Carl Borivoj Presl. In 1913 the botanists Aven Nelson and James Francis Macbride published Allium textile as the new name for the species. Together with its genus it is classified in the Amaryllidaceae family. A. textile is placed within section Amerallium, subgenus Amerallium.
The species has five synonyms.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Notes Allium angulosum 1813 species = het., nom. illeg., not 1753 Allium aridum 1917 species = het. Allium reticulatum 1827 species ≡ hom., nom. illeg., not J. Presl & C. Presl 1817 Allium reticulatum var. playanum 1908 variety = het. Maligia laxa 1837 species = het. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym
Distribution and habitat
The native range of A. textile extends across the Great Plains states from Oklahoma to Montana and Minnesota, plus the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin states from northern New Mexico to Washington, plus the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There is also a report of an isolated population in Indiana. Allium textile grows on dry, sunlit locations at elevations of 300–2400 m.
References Citations
Sources Journal articles
Web sources
External links