''Allium platycaule'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

wild onion Wild onion can refer to * any uncultivated species in the genus '' Allium'', especially: **'' Allium bisceptrum'' ** '' Allium canadense'' ** ''Allium tricoccum ''Allium tricoccum'' (commonly known as ramp, ramps, ramson, wild leek, wood leek, o ...

known as broadstemmed onion or flat-stem onion. It is native to northeastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, south-central

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

( Lake County) and northwestern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

( Washoe and Humboldt Counties). It is found on slopes of elevations of 1500–2500 m. ''Allium platycaule'' grows from a gray bulb wide. Scape is thin and strongly flattened, up to long but rarely more than across. It may be thicker along the midrib and much narrower along the sides. The long, flat leaves are sickle-shaped. Atop the stem is an

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

which may have as many as 90 flowers in it. Each flower may be up to a centimeter and a half wide but the

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s are quite narrow so as to be almost threadlike. The inflorescence therefore may appear be a dense ball of filaments. The flowers are generally bright pink to magenta with yellow anthers.

Uses

The leaves, bulbs, and seeds were utilized as food by the Northern Paiute people.Ethnobotany
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allium Platycaule platycaule Onions Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Nevada Flora of the Great Basin ~ Plants described in 1879 Taxa named by Sereno Watson Flora without expected TNC conservation status