A brilliant Allium
Jane McGary (Wed, 21 May 2003 19:11:33 PDT)

The alliums are starting to flower, including the western species. The
brightest one in the bulb frames, and new to me, is Allium scorzonerifolium
ssp. xericense. I bought it as a bulb from Monocot Nursery last year. The
flowering stem is about 16 inches (40 cm) tall, topped with an
inflorescence of fairly numerous florest of good size, very bright clear
yellow with a little darker yellow in the center adding depth to the color.
They are about the color of Calochortus monophyllus and C. amabilis, which
are also in flower here.

I assume from the name that this is a summer-dry species. Its foliage is
already withering, much like some of the brodiaeas (more on them in a later
message).

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon