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 Leaves Sue Carnahan @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) |  Plant Baylor University Herbarium @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC0 1.0 (Public-domain) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial Similar Species: Nothoscordum gracile
General Desc:
Perennial resembling wild onion but lacks the onion odor. It has 1 to 4 green very narrow basal leaves and 1 flowering stem with elongated clusters of 3 to 6 star-like flowers at the tip. Each flower has 6 whitish petal-like tepals and a yellow center.
Identification notes: Similar to an onion, grows from a bulb, lacks onion smell; very narrow basal leaves; 1 stem of 3 to 6 flowers with 6 whitish tepals (petals and sepals), often with red or purplish mid-veins; 2 bracts below the flower clusters.
Height:
To nearly 16 inches
Habitat Description: Found in sandy moist soils in open woods, fields, prairies, pastures, roadsides, barren areas with scattered plant growth and in granite outcrops (areas of exposed bedrock with large boulders of eroded granite rock). Sometimes found in parks and on lawns.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 4000 - 6500 feet
Color:
Whitish, yellow base
Shape:
Regular in round clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Apr - Aug
Description:
Flowers have 6 tepals (petals and sepals), often a red or purplish stripe (mid-vein), base of tepals yellow. Flowers are whitish and somewhat greenish at the base. Below each cluster of flowers (umbel) are 2 brownish papery leaf-like bracts.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Basal
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaves and stem emerge from a 3/4 inch brown bulb with a fibrous to papery surface. Stems are hollow and unbranched. Leaves are very narrow, flattened, 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide to about 12 inches long. There are 1 to 4 leaves per plant growing from the base.
Fruit Color: Green, ages yellowish-brown
Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Fruit is a hairless, 3-lobed, egg-shaped to sphere-shaped capsule that is 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and wide. Immature capsules are green while mature capsules become light yellowish-brown and divide into 3 parts (lobes) to release their seeds.
Seed Notes: The seeds are black, have an elongated egg shape and are about 1/8 inch long. There are about 4 to 6 seeds in each lobe of a divided capsule.
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