Allium schubertii

Allium schubertii, which has various common names including ornamental onion, flowering onion, tumbleweed onion and Persian onion, is a species of monocotyledonous flowering plant from the onion and garlic genus, in the subfamily Allioideae part of the Amaryllidaceae which occurs in the Levant and Libya.

Allium schubertii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. schubertii
Binomial name
Allium schubertii

Description

Allium schubertii is a perennial plant which grows from an underground bulb and which produces vivid green, strap-like leaves in the spring, which die back before the it blooms. It grows to around 50 cm tall and lives for 2–5 years. These flowers consist of 50 or more star-shaped, mauve florets on stems of differing lengths producing a starburst effect which can be up to 30 cm across.[2] The desiccated flower heads eventually break off the dried out, dead stems and, blown around by the desert winds, cast their seeds abroad as they tumble around.[3]

Distribution

Allium schubertii is found in Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Libya but grown as an ornamental elsewhere.[4][5][6][7]

Cultivation

Allium schubertii has flower and seed heads that have been compared to fireworks exploding, and both are dried and used in flower arranging, and can even be sprayed with decorative paint and used as Christmas tree decorations.[8][2] The American Horticultural Society recommends growing these bulbs in AHS planting zones 5-8. It appears, however, that they may be even cold-hardier than that. This depends on the heaviness of the soil: in heavier soil that retains water in winter, the survival of these plant is significantly decreased.[9]

References
  1. Fragman-Sapir, O. & Semaan, M. (2017). Allium schubertii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T13145624A111364478 Downloaded on 05 January 2019.
  2. "Allium schubertii". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  3. "Ornamental Alliums" (PDF). American Horticultural Society. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  4. "Flora of Israel Online". Archived from the original on 2014-03-30. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  5. Kew Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  6. Zuccarini, Joseph Gerhard. 1843. Abhandlungen der Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 3: 234.
  7. Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey. 1976. Hortus Third i–xiv, 1–1290. MacMillan, New York.
  8. "Allium schuberti". Sarah Raven. Retrieved 2016-11-27.
  9. "Allium Schubertii: Ornamental Onion That Looks Like Fireworks". about.com. Retrieved 2016-11-16.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.