Allium denticulatum

Toothed onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Toothed onion is a California native perennial found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, western Transverse Ranges, and western Mojave Desert in dry slopes at elevations of 900 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces rose-purple flowers in clusters of 5 to 30 blooms with dentate perianth tips. Growing with slender stems 5 to 18 centimeters tall, it emerges from a small ovoid bulb with red-brown outer coats. Its single cylindric leaf is 1.5 to 2 times the length of the stem, with distinctive ovary crests that are entire to finely dentate. The small bulb has pale brown to white inner coats, giving this delicate onion species its subtle structural complexity.

Habitat: dry slopes

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 900-1600 m

Bioregions: s SN, Teh, WTR, w DMoj.

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura

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