Allium bolanderi

Bolander's onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bolander's onion is a California native perennial found in rocky or grassy areas at mid-elevations. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces striking red-purple to white flowers in clusters of 10 to 20 blooms with slender pedicels 10 to 20 millimeters long. Growing 10 to 35 centimeters tall with 2 to 3 approximately cylindrical leaves roughly equal in length to the stem, it emerges from a small oblique-ovoid bulb. Its leaves are slender and nearly equal in size, arising from a compact bulb with subtle herringbone-patterned outer scales. The flower clusters feature perianth parts with lanceolate segments that have serrated edges and spreading tips, creating an intricate and delicate botanical display.

California counties: Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Lake, Glenn, Napa, Tehama, Mendocino, Santa Clara, Colusa, Sonoma, San Diego, Butte, Del Norte

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