''Allium sanbornii'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

n species of

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 by the common name Sanborn's onion.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> It is native to northern

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 ...

and southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It grows in the

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

s of the southern

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

and northern Sierra Nevada foothills.Flora of North America, ''Allium sanbornii''
/ref> ''Allium sanbornii'' produces a reddish-brown

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs dur ...

up to about long. Scape up to long, bearing a single cylindrical leaf which is about the same length. The

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 ...

contains as many as 150 small flowers, each with

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 less than a centimeter long, pink to white with darker red midveins.

Anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

are yellow or purple;

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametop ...

yellow or white. ;Varieties *''Allium sanbornii'' var. ''congdonii'' Jeps. - from Nevada County to Mariposa County *''Allium sanbornii'' var. ''sanbornii'' - from

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. Shasta ...

to Mariposa County in

;

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

+ Josephine Counties in

;formerly includedDenison, S.S. & McNeal, Dale W. 1989. Madroño 36(2): 127-128 * ''Allium sanbornii'' var. ''jepsonii'' Ownbey & Aase ex Traub, now called '' Allium jepsonii'' (Ownbey & Aase ex Traub) S.S.Denison & McNeal * ''Allium sanbornii'' var. ''tuolumnense'' Ownbey & Aase ex Traub, now called '' Allium tuolumnense'' (Ownbey & Aase ex Traub) S.S.Denison & McNeal

References

sanbornii Flora of California Flora of Oregon Onions Plants described in 1868 {{Allium-stub