Allium lacunosum var. lacunosum

Pitted onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Pitted onion is a California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges, southern San Joaquin Valley, South Coast Ranges, Southern California Coast, and northern Channel Islands in serpentine outcrops and clay habitats at elevations of 50 to 1,000 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces small white to pinkish flowers in dense clusters with 5 to 25 individual blooms. Growing with slender stems up to 30 centimeters tall, it develops a compact, clustered inflorescence with two distinctive bracts. Its narrow leaves are typically grass-like and emerge from a small underground bulb. The flowers are relatively small, measuring 6 to 9 millimeters across, and are arranged in tight, spherical clusters characteristic of the Allium genus.

Habitat: Serpentine outcrops, clay

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 50-1000 m

Bioregions: n CCo, s SnJV, SCoR, SCo, n ChI.

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Stanislaus, Santa Barbara, Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, Calaveras, Kern, Mono, San Diego, Napa

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