Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Allium sharsmithiae, called the Mount Hamilton onion or Helen Sharsmith's onion, is a rare species of wild onion endemic to a small region in California. It is found on serpentine soils in the vicinity of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range south of San Francisco Bay in Santa Clara, Alameda and Stanislaus Counties. Allium sharsmithiae produces round to egg-shaped bulbs up to 2 cm in diameter. Flowering stalk is round in cross section, not hollow, up to 20 cm tall. Flowers are urn-shaped, up to 2 cm in diameter; tepals deep reddish-purple; anthers and pollen yellow.

Plant type

Perennial herb, Geophyte

Size

8 in Tall

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Color

Purple, Red

Water

Moderate

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 6 likely

Confirmed Likely

Ipsilon Dart

Agrotis ipsilon

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica

Salt Marsh Moth

Estigmene acrea

Subterranean Dart

Feltia subterranea