Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Allium falcifolium is a species of wild onion known by the common name scytheleaf onion. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in heavy, rocky soils, especially serpentine soils. The scytheleaf onion grows from a reddish-brown bulb one to two centimeters wide. The reddish or yellowish green stem is flattened such that it is thick in the center and thin along the edges. There are usually two leaves, which, as its common name suggests, are curved like the blade of a scythe The stem is short and topped with an flower cluster of 10 to 30 flowers, each of which is one to one and a half centimeters wide. Each flower has six pinkish, red-purple, or white-streaked purple petals.

Plant type

Perennial herb, Geophyte

Calscape icon
Color

Pink, White, Purple, Red

Flowering season

Spring, Summer

Sun

Full Sun

Water

Moderate

Soil drainage

Slow

Sunset Zones

5, 7*, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17

Site type

places with heavy soils

Plant communities

Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Yellow Pine Forest

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 14 likely

Confirmed Likely

Ipsilon Dart

Agrotis ipsilon

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica

Soybean Looper Moth

Chrysodeixis includens