Allium haematochiton

Red skinned onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Red skinned onion is a California native perennial found in southern California coastal ranges, southern California, western Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in dry slopes and ridges at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white to rose flowers 6 to 8 millimeters long in clusters of 10 to 30 blooms. Growing with stems 10 to 40 centimeters tall, it develops clustered bulbs on a stout rhizome with outer scales that are reddish-brown and finely striate. Its 4 to 6 leaves are flat and approximately equal in length to the stem, arising from bulbs with deep red to white inner coats. The flower clusters feature narrowly ovate perianth parts with a low, papillate cap covering the ovary lobes.

Habitat: Common. Dry slopes, ridges

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: SCoRO, SCo, WTR, PR

California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Santa Barbara, Riverside, Nevada, Ventura, Kern, Alpine

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