Allium monticola

San bernardino mountain onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

San bernardino mountain onion is a California native perennial found in the Transverse Ranges and northwestern Peninsular Ranges (Orange County) on rocky ridges and talus slopes at elevations of 1,400 to 3,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces pink to rose-purple flowers with white bases, arranged in clusters of 8 to 25 blooms with delicate lance-linear perianth parts. Growing with slender glaucous stems 6 to 25 centimeters tall, it emerges from a small ovoid bulb that produces 1 to 2 large stalked bulblets at its base. Its single leaf is cylindric, glaucous, and shorter than the stem, with a distinctive blue-green coloration. The flower's ovary features six prominent linear to narrowly triangular crests, giving the plant a unique and delicate appearance.

Habitat: Uncommon. Rocky ridges, talus slopes

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1400-3200 m

Bioregions: TR, nw PR (Orange Co.).

California counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Santa Barbara, Ventura

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