Allium bolanderi var. bolanderi

Bolander's onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bolander's onion is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, and southeastern San Francisco Bay Area in rocky clay habitats including serpentine areas at elevations below 1,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white to pale pink flowers with narrowly ovate perianth parts 8 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with an oblique-ovoid bulb 7 to 12 millimeters in size, it develops a distinctive outer bulb coating that breaks apart with serrate (saw-toothed) edges. Its leaves emerge from the distinctive bulb, typically slender and characteristic of the onion family. The plant thrives in challenging clay soils, particularly serpentine landscapes that few other species can tolerate.

Habitat: Uncommon. Rocky clays including serpentine

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1000 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, se SnFrB

California counties: Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity, Napa, Glenn

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