Allium spathaceum

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|name=Ethiopian onion

|taxon=Allium spathaceum

|image=

|authority=Steud. ex A.Rich

|synonyms=*Allium subhirsutum var. spathaceum (Steud. ex A.Rich.) Regel

• Allium subhirsutum subsp. spathaceum (Steud. ex A.Rich.) Duyfjes

|synonyms_ref=[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-296626 The Plant List]

}}

Allium spathaceum, the Ethiopian onion, is a plant species native to Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan. Of the 900 known species of onion in the world, this is one of only a few that are endemic to the area.[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do;jsessionid=FC209929868FFA60F05869A24CA46D4A?name_id=296626 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]

Allium spathaceum is a bulb-forming perennial up to 40 cm tall, with a scent similar to that of onion or leeks. It has very narrow, linear leaves with hairs along the edges. The umbel contains only a few flowers, with long pedicels. Tepals are white with reddish midveins.Richard, Achille. 1850. Tentamen Florae Abyssinicae seu Enumeratio Plantarum hucusque in plerisque Abyssiniae 2: 330.Duyfjes, Brigitta Emma Elisabeth. 1972. Rev. Gen. Allium in Africa 142; Meded. Landbouwhoogeschool Wageningen, 76(11).[http://plants.jstor.org/taxon/allium.spathaceum JSTOR Global Plants compilation page, Allium spathaceum][http://botany.cz/cs/allium-spathaceum/ Czech Botany, Allium spathaceum]