Allium amplectens

Narrow leaved onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Narrow leaved onion is a California native perennial found in the California Floristic Province and Warner Mountains in open or wooded clay habitats, including serpentine areas, at elevations below 1,800 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces white to pink flowers in clusters of 10 to 50 blooms, each 5 to 9 millimeters long with delicate lanceolate petals. Growing with slender stems 15 to 50 centimeters tall, it develops 2 to 4 approximately cylindrical leaves shorter than the stem. Its small ovoid to nearly spherical bulb features distinctive outer coat cells with an obscure, wavy herringbone pattern and typically reddish inner coats. The plant's ovary develops six subtle crests that become more pronounced as the flower matures.

Habitat: Clays including serpentine, open or wooded places

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1800 m

Bioregions: CA-FP, Wrn

California counties: Mendocino, San Diego, Lake, Santa Clara, Butte, Yuba, Humboldt, Nevada, Siskiyou, Glenn, Tehama, San Joaquin, Napa, Shasta, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Del Norte, Alameda, Tuolumne, Colusa, El Dorado, Modoc, Trinity, Solano, Marin, Mariposa, Lassen, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Sonoma, Tulare, Madera, Monterey, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Stanislaus, Sutter, San Benito, Sacramento, Merced, Mono, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.