Allium anceps

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|name=Twinleaf onion

|taxon=Allium anceps

|parent=Allium subg. Amerallium

|image=Twinleaf_onion_NV_2.jpg

|status=G4

|status_system=TNC

|authority=Kellogg

|synonyms=

|synonyms_ref=

}}

Allium anceps, known as twinleaf onion[http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ALAN Allium anceps.] USDA PLANTS. and Kellogg's onion,[https://archive.today/20130808184244/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Allium+anceps Allium anceps.] NatureServe. 2012. is a species of wild onion native to the western United States. It is widespread in Nevada, extending into adjacent parts of California, Idaho, and Oregon. It grows in barren clay and rocky soils.[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=12510 Allium anceps.] The Jepson eFlora 2013.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242101332 Allium anceps.] Flora of North America.

File:Allium anceps (23149981029).jpg

This perennial herb produces a flowering scape from a bulb up to {{convert|2|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long and wide. There are up to 5 bulbs, sometimes wrapped together in the brown or yellow-brown outer coat. There are two flat, smooth-edged, sickle-shaped leaves up to {{convert|26|cm|in|abbr=on}} long. The scape is erect, up to {{convert|15|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} tall, and flattened with winged edges. It bears an umbel of 15 to 35 flowers with two spathes at the base. The star-shaped flower is roughly {{convert|1|cm|in|frac=3|abbr=on}} wide with six greenish-veined pink tepals. The six stamens are tipped with yellow anthers bearing yellow pollen. Once the seeds mature the scape dies and breaks off, usually along with the leaves.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3837032#page/122/mode/1up Kellogg, Albert. 1863. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 2: 109, f. 32.]

The bulbs are edible and were a food source for the Northern Paiute, who roasted them and pressed them into cakes.[http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Allium+anceps Allium anceps.] Native American Ethnobotany. University of Michigan, Dearborn.