Allium cernuum

Allium cernuum is a herbaceous perennial growing from an unsheathed elongated conical bulb which gradually tapers directly into several keeled (thin and flat) grass-like leaves, {{Convert|2-4|mm|abbr=off|frac=32}} in width. Each mature bulb bears a single flowering stem, which terminates in a downward nodding umbel of white or rose, campanulate (bell-shaped) flowers that bloom in July and August. The flowers are arranged into downward facing umbels and each flower is about {{cvt|5|mm|in|frac=32}} across, pink or white with yellow pollen and yellow anthers. A. cernuum does not have bulblets in the inflorescence.{{cite book|author1=Barbara Coffin|author2=Lee Pfannmuller|title=Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfWNq91AjeoC|year=1988|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-1689-3|page=47}} The flowers mature into spherical crested fruits which later split open to reveal the dark shiny seeds.{{EFloras|1|242101342|Allium cernuum|family=Liliaceae|first1=Dale W.|last=McNeal Jr.|first2=T. D.|last2=Jacobsen}}{{Illinois Wildflowers|prairie/plantx/nod_onionx|Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)|access-date=24 June 2023}}{{cite book |last1=Gleason |first1=H. A. |first2=A.J. |last2=Cronquist |date=1991 |title=Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada |edition=2 |pages=i–910 |publisher=New York Botanical Garden |location=Bronx}}{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Cronquist |first1=A.J. |first2=A. H. |last2=Holmgren |first3=N. H. |last3=Holmgren |first4=J. L. |last4=Reveal |date=1977 |title=Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. |volume=6 |pages=1–584 |editor1-first=A.J. |editor1-last=Cronquist |editor2-first=A. H. |editor2-last=Holmgren |editor3-first=N. H. |editor3-last=Holmgren |editor4-first=J. L. |editor4-last=Reveal |editor5-first=P. K. |editor5-last=Holmgren |encyclopedia=Intermountain Flora |publisher=Hafner Pub. Co. |location=New York}}{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Hitchcock |first1=C. H. |first2=A.J. |last2=Cronquist |first3=F. M. |last3=Ownbey |first4=J. W. |last4=Thompson |date=1969 |contribution=Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons |volume=1 |pages=1–914 |editor-first=C. L. |editor-last=Hitchcock |title=Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle}}{{cite book|last1=Radford |first1=A. E. |first2=H. E. |last2=Ahles |first3=C. R. |last3=Bell |date=1968 |title=Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas |pages=i–lxi, 1–1183 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill}}{{cite book|last=Moss |first=E. H. |date=1983 |title=Flora of Alberta |url=https://archive.org/details/floraofalbertama0000moss |url-access=registration |edition=2 |pages=i–xii, 1–687 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto|isbn=9780802025081 }}{{cite book |last1=Bailey |first1=L.H. |first2=E.Z. |last2=Bailey |date=1976 |title=Hortus Third |url=https://archive.org/details/hortusthirdconci00bail |url-access=registration |page=49 |publisher=MacMillan |location=New York|isbn=9780025054707 }}

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Allium cernuum BB.jpg|1913 illustration

|Allium cernuum - Flickr - aspidoscelis (2).jpg|Plant in New Mexico

|Allium cernuum - Nodding Onion 3.jpg|Flowers in bloom

|Allium cernuum (3287845832).jpg|White flowers

|Allium cernuum seed head.jpg|Seed head

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In addition to other species of Allium, wild garlic, field garlic, and wild leek look similar,{{Cite book |last1=Elias |first1=Thomas S. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/244766414 |title=Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods |last2=Dykeman |first2=Peter A. |publisher=Sterling |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4027-6715-9 |location=New York |pages=58 |oclc=244766414 |orig-year=1982}} as well as other onion-looking poisonous species, such as deathcamas, which lacks the expected onion odor.

File:Bombus vancouverensis - Van Loon 01.jpg

The species has been reported from much of the United States, Canada and Mexico including in the Appalachian Mountains from Alabama to New York State, the Great Lakes Region, the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys, the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri, and the Rocky and Cascade Mountains of the West, from Mexico to Washington. It has not been reported from California, Nevada, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Delaware, New England, or much of the Great Plains. In Canada, it grows from Ontario to British Columbia.{{BONAP|ref|genus=Allium|species=cernuum}}{{PLANTS|symbol=ALCE2|taxon=Allium cernuum}}{{cite book |last1=Brako |first1=L. |title=Scientific and Common Names of 7,000 Vascular Plants in the United States |last2=Rossman |first2=A.Y. |last3=Farr |first3=D.F. |date=1995 |pages=1–294}}CONABIO. 2009. Catálogo taxonómico de especies de México. 1. In Capital Nat. México. CONABIO, Mexico City.

Despite its wide geographical distribution, it is absent from much of its range. In the southern part of its range in North America it is limited to mountainous habitats, and in other parts of its North American range it is limited to local and disjunct population. It is absent from North Dakota and most of the Great Plains states and intermountain region of the U.S. In Minnesota it is listed as a threatened species.{{Cite web|title=Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern. Species ID Guide.|url=https://www.arboretum.umn.edu/UserFiles/File/Intern%20Projects/EndangeredThreatenedSpecialConernSpeciesGuide.pdf|website=Minnesota Landscape Arboretum}}

It can be found growing in deciduous woodlands, to open grasslands.

While A. cernuum is edible and has a strong onion flavor, it is not considered to have culinary value in the modern world.{{cite web |title=Allium cernuum |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=z580 |website=Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=2 June 2023}}

It is grown in gardens for its distinctive nodding flowers that are white, pink, or maroon; it is winter hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 3–9.{{cite book|author=Geoffrey Burnie|title=Botanica: The Illustrated A-Z of Over 10,000 Garden Plants|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkoEAAAACAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Welcome Rain|isbn=0760716420|page=75}} In gardens it will often form dense clusters of bulbs over time from offsets of the parent bulb.{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=Claude A. |title=Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills |date=1983 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-1127-0 |page=19}} Plants are healthiest in full sun with well drained soil, though in hot climates they appreciate some shade especially in the afternoons.

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• {{PFAF|Allium cernuum}}

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cernuum

Category:Flora of Canada

Category:Flora of the United States

Category:Flora of Mexico

Category:Onions

Category:Flora of Missouri

Category:Plants described in 1798