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Tolmie's onion

Allium tolmiei

Tolmie's onion
Photo: Steve Hurst @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database, Public domain

Tolmie's onion is a small, wild bulbous plant of mountain slopes and scrub in the western United States, grown mainly by native plant enthusiasts. Its key to success is providing the sunny, well-drained, dry-summer conditions of its native habitat.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly during the growing season and keep dry while dormant in summer.
Soil
Sharp, fast-draining soil such as gritty loam or rocky mix.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; protect from waterlogging rather than cold.
How easy
Moderate
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
NW. U.S.A. to NE. California
Climate
temperate

About

Allium tolmiei (Tolmie's onion) is a plant species native to Idaho, eastern and central Oregon, southeastern Washington, northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. It occurs on mountains and scrublands at elevations of 1,300–9,200 feet (400–2,800 m). It was discovered by and named for Dr. William Fraser Tolmie.

Allium tolmiei produces ovoid to oblique bulbs up to 0.79 inches (2 cm) long, the bulbs generally disappearing at flowering time but then reforming later. Flowers are bell-shaped, up to 0.47 inches (12 mm) across; tepals white to pink with reddish midribs; anthers purple or yellow; pollen yellow.

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 tolmiei 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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