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Pacific onion

Allium validum

Also called Pacific Mountain Onion, Pacific Swamp Onion, Swamp Onion

Pacific onion
Photo: Eric Hunt, CC BY-SA 4.0

Allium validum is a native perennial bulb onion of western North American wet meadows and swamps at medium to high elevations. It needs moist ground and plenty of sun to thrive.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil consistently moist during the growing season, especially in spring.
Soil
Sandy or loamy, well-drained soil; tolerates acid, neutral or alkaline conditions.
Temperature
Hardy in cold winters; native to high-elevation climates with cold winters.
How easy
Moderate
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
SW. Canada to W. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate

About

Allium validum is a species of flowering plant commonly called swamp onion, wild onion, Pacific onion, or Pacific mountain onion. It is native to the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, the Rocky Mountains, and other high-elevation regions in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and British Columbia. It is a perennial herb and grows in swampy meadows at medium and high elevations.

Where it grows

This is a common plant in California, often found in wet meadows at elevations of 1,200 to 3,400 meters (3,900 to 11,200 ft). A. validum prefers sandy and loamy soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant will grow in acid, basic, or alkaline soils, but only in areas with plenty of moisture and sun.

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 validum 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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