Sunday, May 13, 2012

oneleaf onion ~ 05/13/12 ~ Fort Ord



oneleaf onion
Allium unifolium
Alliaceae (formerly Liliaceae)

posted 06/09/12 - I think this is one of the prettiest onions around. I particularly like the tapered shape of the filaments (structures that hold the light-yellow, pollen-bearing anthers) and the delicate pink color gradation. Because the flowers reminded me so much of superficial crosses between Triteleia, Brodiaea, and Toxicoscordion, all of which were also once placed in the lily family, I went on a futile search of Themidaceae and Melanthiaceae and totally ignored the onion-like appearance. The next time I'm crying my eyes out as I'm cutting up a cooking onion, I'll try to remember how beautiful the flowers can be.

3 comments:

John W. Wall said...

If you find 'em again, try munching a flower. You'll be glad you did.

Arro said...

Wow! So that's an onion flower? Astounding~ It really is quite lovely to behold, especially the ends of the petals, how they slant.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Thanks, John. I just might try that. Recently, I discovered mustard flowers are quite tasty. I noticed your posted picture on CalPhotos is quite a bit darker than the ones above; it was chosen for Calflora.org. Do you know if these change color as they age or get pollinated?

Thanks, Arro. The various onion flowers really are quite pretty.