Allium praecox

Early onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Early onion is a California native perennial found in southwestern California (excluding Santa Barbara and San Bernardino regions) on shaded, grassy slopes at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces pale pink flowers in clusters of 5 to 40 blooms, with blossoms 8 to 12 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall, it develops 2 to 3 widely channeled or flat leaves that are about half to three-quarters the height of the stem. Its distinctive bulb is ovoid to nearly spherical, 10 to 18 millimeters wide, with an intriguing outer coating featuring a subtle, wavy herringbone pattern of transversely elongated cells. The perianth parts are somewhat spreading to erect, turning a dull purple when in fruit and folding over the seed capsule.

Habitat: Uncommon. Shaded, grassy slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: SW (exc SnGb, SnBr)

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

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