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| Flat-stemmed onions growing south of Mt. Judah near the Pacific Crest Trail: each plant shows off its inflorescence, which often contains over fifty purple-pink flowers (June 8, 2013). | |
Flat-stemmed onion plants (Alium platycaule) grow in dry, rocky soil at mid and high elevation, such as the volcanic flats and slopes near Roller Pass (south of Mt. Judah) along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). When you get your nose down and close to these short plants, you will notice the smell of garlic or chives. The two flat and curved leaves of each plant are much longer than its short, erect flowering stem. The spherical umbels display a firework of pink flowers with threadlike, widely separated tepals (for comparison, see page 49 in Laird R. Blackwell's Tahoe Wildflowers Falcon Guide, Morris Book Publishing, 2007).
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