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Allium elmendorfii
Also called Elmendorf Onion
Elmendorf's onion is a small wild perennial onion native to sandy woodland and grassland openings in south-central Texas. It is grown as a bulb in well-drained, sandy soil in a sunny spot where it can go dormant in summer.
Allium elmendorfii, or Elmendorf's onion, is a species of wild onion endemic to Texas. It is known only from Bexar, Frio, Wilson, and Atascosa Counties. It is generally found on sandy soils, specifically "well-drained sands, Eocene, Pleistocene and Holocene sands, and has only a 400 x 160 km range." Its habitat is "Forest/Woodland, Savanna, Woodland - Hardwood" and specifically "{g}rassland openings in post oak (Quercus stellata) woodlands on deep, well-drained sands derived from Queen City and similar Eocene formations."
Allium elmendorfii is a perennial bulb-forming herb with clusters of small bulbils around the roots, but without the dry papery outer layers that the domesticated onions have. It has an umbel of 10–30 erect to spreading flowers, each with 6 white to pinkish tepals about 5 cm (2 inches) long, flowering from March to April or May.
Allium elmendorfii is related to the common domesticated onion, Allium cepa L., and has a similar aroma. It can be eaten in the same manner, as can most of the members of the genus.
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 elmendorfii 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.
