Allium paniculatum

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| name =

|image = Allium paniculatum (inflorescence) 2.jpg

| taxon = Allium paniculatum

| parent = Allium subg. Allium

| authority = L. (1759)

|synonyms=

{{collapsible list|bullets = true

|title=Species synonymy

|Allium acutiflorum Bové ex Regel (1875), not validly publ

|Allium albidum C.Presl (1822), nom. illeg.

|Allium pallens subsp. paniculatum {{small|(L.) Arcang. (1882)}}

|Allium paniculatum var. caucasicum Regel (1875)

|Allium paniculatum subsp. caucasicum (Regel) K.Richt. (1890)

|Allium paniculatum subsp. genuinum {{small|Cout. (1913), not validly publ.}}

|Allium paniculatum var. legitimum Ledeb. (1852), not validly publ.

|Allium paniculatum subsp. paniculatum

|Allium paniculatum var. typicum {{small|Regel (1875), not validly publ.}}

|Cepa paniculata (L.) Moench (1794)

|Kalabotis paniculatum (L.) Raf. (1837)

|Porrum paniculatum (L.) Moench (1802)

|Raphione paniculata (L.) Salisb. (1866), not validly publ.

}}

|synonyms_ref={{cite web |title=Allium paniculatum L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:528569-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=27 August 2024}}

}}

Allium paniculatum, common name pale garlic,{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-03-17}} is a species of monocot in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is widely cultivated and is now naturalized in several places outside its native range.Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey. 1976. Hortus Third i–xiv, 1–1290. MacMillan, New York.

Description

Allium paniculatum produces several egg-shaped bulbs, each up to 1.5 cm across. It has no rhizomes. Leaves are tubular and hollow, up to 35 cm long. Scape is round in cross-section, solid, up to 75 cm tall. Inflorescence is (despite the name of the species referring to a panicle) an umbel with as many as 100 flowers. Flowers are bell-shaped, about 6 mm across; tepals white to lilac; pollen and anthers yellow.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/586897#page/158/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1759. Systema Naturae, Editio Decima 2: 978.]

Taxonomy

A. paniculatum is placed within section Codonoprasum, subgenus Allium. The species has been regarded as highly variable, with up to 30 taxa included in what has been referred to as the A. paniculatum complex, many of which are now regarded as separate species within the section, including Allium dentiferum, A. fuscum, A. galileum, A. oleraceum, A. pallens, and A. tenuiflorum.{{cite journal|last1=Salmeri|first1=Cristina|last2=Brullo|first2=Cristian|last3=Brullo|first3=Salvatore|last4=Galdo|first4=Giampietro Giusso Del|last5=Moysiyenko|first5=Ivan I.|title=What is Allium paniculatum? Establishing taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic relationships within A. sect. Codonoprasum|journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution|date=March 2016|volume=54|issue=2|pages=123–135|doi=10.1111/jse.12170|s2cid=83671442|ref={{harvid|Salmeri et al|2016}}}}

Many taxa from within the section have been incorrectly attributed to this species causing uncertainty regarding morphological diversity and geographic distribution. For instance, the species has been described as widely spread through the whole Euro-Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian areas, as well as in North Africa. However, the type specimen comes from Ukraine and South Russia.Vojtěchová K., Kobrlová L., Schönswetter P. & Duchoslav M. (2023) Disentangling the taxonomic structure of the Allium paniculatum species complex in central and eastern Europe using molecular, cytogenetic and morphological tools. – Preslia 95: 119–163, https://doi.org/10.23855/preslia.2023.119

Phylogenetically, A. paniculatum is in a sister relationship with three other species, namely A. oleraceum and the two western autumnal taxa, A. savii and A. telmatum, forming a subclade within the section.

Distribution and habitat

Allium paniculatum has been reported from every European country bordering on the Black and Mediterranean Seas, including the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Crete. It is also considered native in Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary, western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Palestine. It has become naturalized in California, New York State, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, and South Australia.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do;jsessionid=C9915C0CFF0AB11D95FEF006732785F1?name_id=296197 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families] Recent phylogenetic studies demonstrate that the species' true distribution is in the countries around the Black and Caspian seas, including Bulgaria, Ukraine and Crimea, European Russia, the Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, and western Siberia.

In European Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea it is typically found in dry grasslands (steppes), including on ancient burial mounds, where it grows association with other steppe plants.

The species has been collected in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay in California, as well as isolated locales in Essex County in northeastern New York State. This is of concern because the species has the potential to become a noxious weed. It tends to grow in disturbed sites such as roadsides, cultivated fields, etc.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242102160 Flora of North America v 26 p 244, Allium paniculatum][http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Allium%20paniculatum.png BONAP (Biota of North America Program) floristic synthesis, Allium paniculatum]

References