Allium callimischon

Quick Characteristics:

Allium callimischon Link is native to Albania, Greece, and Turkey. It has two subspecies. Ssp. callimischon is found in Albania and Greece and has white unspotted flowers with a reddish-brown vein. Although the flower stalk is formed in spring, the leaves shrivel in summer and it is not until fall that flowers appear from what looks like a dead stalk. The first photo is by John Lonsdale. The second photo by Jane McGary shows it flowering in late October on the Mani Peninsula, Peloponnese, Greece. Photos three and four by Rimmer de Vries. The last of these shows ssp. callimischon in the foreground and ssp. haemostictum in the background.

Allium callimischon ssp. haemostictum Stearn is native to Crete and Turkey and has 'blood spots' on the flowers as its name suggests. Photos by Rimmer de Vries. He comments that "it is green in the cool wet season October to June and brown and dry in the hot season and blooms on the dead looking brown stalks in Fall; this habit is for both sub-species. There are other dry and cool season alliums with this habit such as Allium arlgirdense. It took 4 years to get the clump in photo 4 above to size, planted in a 5 inch x 6 inch deep clay pot plunged in sand and kept dry July to September".