Allium stellatum

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamilia: Allioideae
Tribus: Allieae
Genus: Allium
Subgenus: A. subg. Amerallium
Sectio: A. sect. Lophioprason
Subsectio: A. subsect. Cernua
Species: Allium stellatum
Name

Allium stellatum Nutt. ex Ker Gawl., Bot. Mag. 38: t. 1576 (1813).
Synonyms

Homotypic
Hexonychia stellatum (Nutt. ex Ker Gawl.) Salisb., Gen. Pl.: 89. 1866, nom. illeg.
Stelmesus stellatus (Nutt. ex Ker Gawl.) Raf., Fl. Tellur. 2: 19. 1837.

Distribution
Native distribution areas:
Allium stellatum

Continental: Northern America
Regional: Western Canada
Manitoba, Saskatchewan.
Regional: Eastern Canada
Ontario.
Regional: North-Central U.S.A.
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
Regional: Northeastern U.S.A.
Michigan.
Regional: South-Central U.S.A.
Texas.
Regional: Southeastern U.S.A.
Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Nuttall, T. 1813. Bot. Mag. 38: t. 1576.
USDA NRCS PLANTS Profile

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2018. Allium stellatum in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jul. 25. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2018. Allium stellatum. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2018. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2018 Jul. 25. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2018. Allium stellatum. Published online. Accessed: Jul. 25 2018.

Vernacular names
English: Autumn onion, Prairie onion

Allium stellatum, the autumn onion or prairie onion,[1] is a North American species of wild onion native to central Canada and the central United States. It ranges from Ontario and Saskatchewan south to Tennessee and Texas.[2][3]

Allium stellatum grows in rocky, sandy soil.[4] It is a perennial forming a bulb. The scape is up to 1–2 feet (30–60 cm) tall with tufts of leaves,[5] which are thick, hard, and rounded on the back.[6] The leaves die back as the umbel of pink to purple flowers[5] forms in early August.[6] The bulbs are strongly flavored but edible.[5]

The species name stellatum is botanical Latin for "starry", and refers to the umbels. This species was described for science by John Bellenden Ker Gawler in 1813.[7][8]
1913 illustration.[9]
References

"Allium stellatum". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
McNeal Jr., Dale W.; Jacobsen, T. D. (2002). "Allium stellatum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
"Allium stellatum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
"Allium stellatum". Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
"Allium stellatum". Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
Gardner, Harold W. (2011). Tallgrass prairie restoration in the Midwestern and Eastern United States : A hands-on guide. New York: Springer. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-1-4419-7426-6.
Kantrud, Harold A. (1995). "Pink Wild Onion (Allium stellatum)". Native Wildflowers of the North Dakota Grasslands. Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Archived from the original on 2014-08-13. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
Nuttall, Thomas, ex Ker Gawler, John Bellenden. 1813 Botanical Register 38: plate 1576
Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 498