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Allium howellii
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium
Subgenus:	Allium subg. Melanocrommyum
Species:	A. howellii
Binomial name
Allium howellii Eastw.

Allium howellii is a North American species of wild onion known by the common name Howell's onion. It is endemic to California.

Description

Allium howellii is a tall onion plant, producing a stem which may exceed half a meter in height from a reddish-brown bulb one to two centimeters long. There is a single cylindrical leaf about as long as the stem. The inflorescence holds up to 100 dark-veined lavender to white flowers, each under a centimeter long.

Varieties

Several varieties have been named:

• Allium howellii var. clokeyi Ownbey & Aase ex Traub - San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara counties
• Allium howellii var. howellii - Merced, Fresno, Kern, San Luis Obispo counties
• Allium howellii var. sanbenitense (Traub) Ownbey & Aase - San Benito County

Distribution and habitat

Howell's onion grows in the granite and serpentine soils of several mountain ranges, hills, and valleys from San Joaquin County to San Bernardino County.

References

1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
2. Flora of North America Allium howellii
3. Jepson Manual Treatment
4. USDA Plants Profile
5. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
6. ^ Calflora Consortium of California Herbaria Taxon Report 199 , Allium howellii Eastw., Howell's onion
7. Traub, Hamilton Paul. 1972. Plant Life 28: 63–64
8. Traub, Hamilton Paul, & Aase, Hannah Caroline. 1959. in Munz, Philip Alexander & Keck, David Daniels. California Flora page 1376
9. Eastwood, Alice 1938. New Species in Liliaceae. Leaflets of Western Botany 2(7): 109
10. Tropicos, Allium howellii Eastw.
11. Biota of North America 2013 county distribution map

External links

• Calflora Database: Allium howellii (Howell's onion)
• Jepson eFlora (TJM2): Allium howellii
• UC Photos gallery of Allium howellii

• v
• t
• e

• NatureServe vulnerable species
• Allium
• Endemic flora of California
• Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
• Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
• Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
• Tehachapi Mountains
• Plants described in 1938
• Taxa named by Alice Eastwood
• Allium stubs