Wikimedia Commons
Amaryllidaceae
Prairie Onion
Allium stellatum
Unity and community.
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae
- Genus
- Allium
- Native to
- United States, Canada
- Bloom season
- Summer, Fall
- Type
- bulb
- Height
- 12-18 in
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- well-drained, rocky to loamy
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 3-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The species name 'stellatum' means star-shaped, referring to the individual florets arranged in a spherical cluster.
- Native Americans ate the bulbs raw, cooked, or dried and used them as a seasoning, much like cultivated onions today.
- The distinctive onion scent of the crushed leaves helps distinguish it from the toxic death camas, which lacks any odor.
- It often grows on limestone bluffs and rocky outcrops where few other plants can survive.
- A single flower head contains 15-25 individual star-shaped florets, each producing seed capsules that rattle in the wind when dry.
Color meanings
0
courage
1
prosperity
2
protection