Subject: [pbs] allium macranthum
Antennaria@aol.com (Sun, 08 Jun 2003 19:08:45 PDT)

Regarding the photos posted of "Allium macranthum", I'm sorry to disappoint
you Arnold, but that's not A. macranthum... it is surely a form of Allium
senescens, a frequent imposter sent out under a variety of species names, although
it's a nice enough allium in its own right.

Allium macranthum is unmistakable, an Asian species sometimes compared to the
American nodding onion, Allium cernuum, sharing the habit of florets
suspended on long drooping pedicels. In Allium macranthum, the flowers are narrowly
cylindrical... like little closed droplets with protruding stamens, the flowers
held atop tall stems in loosely-flowered heads. Flower color ranges from
pale pinkish to deep purplish-pink. It grows from forked fleshy white rhizomes
that are quite unlike the horizonatal iris-like rhizomes attached to bulbs found
in Allium senescens.

I have posted a photo taken in a friend's garden last August 12, 2002. The
plant was growing mixed in with lots of other plants, alliums, and weeds, and I
didn't get a very good photograph, but I post this photo to give clear
indication of the floral details to distinguish the species:

http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/files/…

I used to grow lots of this but have since lost it over the years... I let
the area in which it was growing become too weedy and overgrown. This is a
species that's very late to emerge in the spring, flowers in mid summer, and
prefers moist humusy soil in part shade. It's a quiet yet lovely species, although
a little bit tall and floppy, and for that reason, I prefer the North
American nodding onion, Allium cernuum, for it's carefree culture and showier
flowers.

Mark McDonough Pepperell, Massachusetts, United States
antennaria@aol.com "New England" USDA Zone 5
==============================================

alliums, bulbs, penstemons, hardy hibiscus, western
american alpines, iris, plants of all types!