| Allium cernuum | ||||||||||||||
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| Allium cernuum Roth | ||||||||||||||
Nodding onion (Allium cernuum), also known as lady's leek, is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae. It has an unsheathed slender conic bulb which gradually tapers directly into several keeled grass-like leaves (2-4mm wide). Each mature bulb bears a single flowering stem, which terminates in a downward nodding umbel of white or rose flowers. Nodding onion blooms in July or August. The flowers mature into a spherical crested fruits which later split open to reveal the dark shiny seeds. This plant does not have bulblets. This plant grows in dry woods, rock outcroppings, and prairies. It is native to North America from New York to British Columbia south to Virginia and Kentucky and south in the mountains. The bulb is edible and has a strong onion flavor.
This species is cultivated for its attractive flowers. Allium cernuum form major has larger plants and larger flowers than the normal species.
References
Seed head of A. cernuum
A. cernuum from Britton and Brown 1913
