| Description | Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum) A native edible perennial plant forming a nodding umbel of white to light lavender flowers. |
|---|---|
| Plant Type | Perennials Hardy, Bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizoms, etc., Wild Flowers |
| Moisture | prefers moist to mesic conditions, doesn't like dry |
| Soil & Site | loamy to rocky sandy, prefers undisturbed areas |
| Flowers | borne on a 1-1.5 tall scape, terminating in an umbel that will node down at the apex, florets have three petals, three sepals, six white stamens, and are white to light lavender, nodding flowers are an evolutionary adaptation that restricts insect visitors to bees that have long tongues and don't mind hanging upside down when going after the pollen |
| Fruit | capsules, small black seeds |
| Leaves | occur at the base, forming a loose rosette, are soft, and tend to bend outward or inward, foliage is often hidden among the foliage of other plants |
| Stems | bulbs, narrow, grayish, clustered on a short rhizome |
| Dimensions | 1-1.5 feet tall |
| Propagation | division of the bulbs, seeds |
| Native Site | Mexico to Canada |
| Misc Facts | 'Cernuum is Latin for "nodding." Many groups of 1st Americans ate the bulbs raw, roasted or dried for winter storage or as a flavoring for soups and gravies. Cherokee used this plant medicinally to cure colds, hives, colic, "gravel & dropsy," liver ailments, sore throats, "phthisic," and feet in "nervous fever." Those in the Isleta Pueblo were not as creative as the Cherokee and used this only for sore throats and infections. Collected for garden cultivation by 1834.' (#218) |
| Author's Notes | It can become an aggressive weed in your garden. If you don't want the plant, make sure you carefully pull out the entire plant. Spreads quickly by seeds. |
| Notes & Reference | #153-Illinois Wild Flower (www.illinoiswildflowers.info), #164-Heritage Flower Farm (www.heritageflowerfarm.com), #218-Flora of Wisconsin (wisflora.herbarium.wisc.edu), #207-Alliums "The Ornamental Onion" (Dilys Davies) |
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