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Drummond's onion

Allium drummondii

Also called Wild Garlic

Drummond's onion
Photo: abbamouse, CC BY-SA 2.0

Drummond's onion is a bulb-forming perennial native to the southern Great Plains of North America, grown for its small edible bulbs and white to pink spring flowers. It is hardy and easy to grow in full sun and well-drained soil, but can spread aggressively and is considered invasive in some regions.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly; it tolerates dry conditions and should not sit in wet soil.
Soil
Well-drained soil, sandy or loamy, tolerates poor and alkaline soils.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters and hot summers; protect only in unusually wet, cold conditions.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
C. U.S.A. to NE. Mexico
Climate
temperate

About

Allium drummondii, also known as Drummond's onion, wild garlic and prairie onion, is a North American species of onion native to the southern Great Plains of North America. It is found in South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico.

Allium drummondii is a bulb-forming perennial. The flowers appear in April and May, in a variety of colors ranging from white to pink. It is common, considered invasive in some regions.

Uses

This species of Allium is gathered by Native Americans for its small edible bulbs. These contain a considerable amount of inulin, a non-reducing sugar that humans cannot digest. Because of this, these onions must be heated for a long period of time in order to convert the inulin into digestible sugars.

Other Allium plants

South Idaho onion · Abrams' allium · Allium aciphyllum · Tapertip onion · Allium aeginiense · Allium aflatunense · Allium agrigentinum · Allium alabasicum · Allium albotunicatum · Allium alibile · Altai Onion · Allium altissimum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Allium drummondii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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