Allium crispum is a species of wild onion known by the common name crinkled onion. It is endemic to California, where it grows along the Central Coast in the Coast Ranges and in the Santa Monica Mountains, often in clays and serpentine soils.Calflora database — Allium crispum . accessed 1.28.2013Flora of North America v 26 p 264, Allium crispum It is a perennial herb that is typically found in the foothill woodlands and valley grasslands of California.
Description Allium crispum grows from a bulb one to one and a half centimeters wide and sends up naked green stems topped with inflorescences of many flowers, each on a short pedicel. The flowers are magenta in color and have six triangular tepals. The inner three tepals are smaller and crinkled like cloth and may curl under. Anthers and pollen are yellow.Greene, Edward Lee. 1888. Pittonia 1(11): 166.Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley The leaves are narrow and linear, typically slightly shorter than the stems and about 1.5 millimeters wide.
A. crispum reaches 10-20 centimeters tall. Flowers typically appear between March and June in the US. The plant prefers part shade.
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See also California montane chaparral and woodlands
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment — Allium crispum USDA Plants Profile: Allium crispum Allium crispum - U.C. Photo gallery