About Allium falcifolium Hook. & Arn.
Allium falcifolium Hook. & Arn., commonly called scytheleaf onion or coast flatstem onion, is a North American wild onion species. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in heavy, rocky soils, particularly serpentine soils. This plant grows from a reddish-brown bulb that is 1 to 2 centimeters wide. Its reddish or yellowish-green stem is flattened, being thick at the center and thin along the edges. It usually produces two leaves that are curved like the blade of a scythe, matching one of its common names. The short stem is topped by an inflorescence holding 10 to 30 flowers; each individual flower is 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide, with six pinkish, red-purple, or white-streaked purple tepals. The previously described variety Allium falcifolium var. demissum Jeps., published in 1921, is now classified as the separate species Allium siskiyouense Ownbey ex Traub.
