Allium crispum

Crinkled onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Crinkled onion is a California native perennial found in southern San Joaquin Valley and central western California on clay slopes, including serpentine areas at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces rose-purple flowers with distinctive spreading tips and delicate curled margins, arranged in clusters of 10 to 40 blooms. Growing with slender stems 15 to 35 centimeters tall, it emerges from a small ovoid bulb with a unique herringbone-patterned outer coating. Its two to three leaves are narrow and cylindrical, shorter than the flowering stem. The plant features intricate flower structures with perianth parts that have delicate dentate inner margins, creating an elegant and subtle botanical display.

Habitat: Clay slopes including serpentine

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: s SnJV, CW.

California counties: Kern, Fresno, San Benito, Santa Barbara, Stanislaus, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Alameda, Merced, San Joaquin, Kings, Nevada, Tehama, Butte

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