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Red Flower Onion

Allium rhizomatum

Red Flower Onion
Photo: Andrew Tree, CC BY 4.0

Red flower onion (Allium rhizomatum) is a small wild onion from dry grasslands in the US Southwest and northern Mexico, spreading by underground rhizomes. It is a hardy bulb that prefers full sun, good drainage and dry conditions.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly during the growing season and keep it dry while dormant.
Soil
Free-draining, gritty or sandy soil.
Temperature
Tolerates cold winters and hot summers; protect bulbs from prolonged waterlogged cold.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
SE. Arizona to SW. Texas and Mexico
Climate
desert or dry shrubland

About

Allium rhizomatum is a species of plant native to southern Arizona (Cochise and Santa Cruz Counties), southern New Mexico (Catron, Grant, Hidalgo, Socorro, Sierra and Eddy Counties) and western Texas (Brewster and Jeff Davis Counties) in the United States, and Chihuahua in Mexico. It is generally found in dry, grassy areas at elevations of 1200–2200 m. Its common names include spreading wild onion and red flower onion.

Allium rhizomatum spreads by means of underground rhizomes, with new bulbs forming as much as 3 cm away from the parent plant. Bulbs are narrowly ellipsoid, up to 3 cm long but rarely more than 1 cm across. Flowers are up to 10 mm across; tepals white with red central veins, without glands; ovary oblong to elongate, lacking a crest; anthers yellow or pink; pollen yellow or white.

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 rhizomatum 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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