Allium serra

Jeweled onion

Family: Alliaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Jeweled onion is a California native perennial found in northern Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, and southern Coast Ranges in grassy slopes at elevations of 30 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces pink to rose flowers 8 to 11 millimeters long in clusters of 10 to 40 blooms. Growing with slender stems 15 to 40 centimeters tall, it emerges from a small ovoid bulb with distinctive herringbone-patterned outer layers. Its two to three leaves are relatively short, nearly cylindrical, and approximately the same height or shorter than the flowering stem. The delicate perianth parts are lance-shaped and fold over the developing fruit, creating a papery covering.

Habitat: Common. Grassy slopes

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 30-1200 m

Bioregions: NCoR, SnFrB, SCoRI.

California counties: San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Alameda, Lake, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Napa, Colusa, Glenn, Butte, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Tuolumne, Yolo, Mendocino, Tehama, Merced, Humboldt, Fresno, Yuba

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