Allium textile

Prairie onion
Conservation status
	; Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium
Subgenus:	A. subg. Amerallium
Species:	A. textile
Binomial name
	Allium textile; A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr.
Synonyms
	List Allium angulosum ; Allium aridum ; Allium reticulatum ; Maligia laxa ; ;

Allium textile (prairie onion or textile onion) is a common species of wild onion found in the central part of North America.

Description

A. textile produces egg-shaped bulbs up to 2.5 cm long. There are no rhizomes. Scapes are round in cross-section, up to 40 cm tall. Flowers are bell-shaped or urn-shaped, about 6 mm in diameter; tepals white or pink with reddish-brown midribs; pollen and anthers yellow.^{[citation needed]}

Taxonomy

In 1827 George Don described a new species in the genus Allium, however he named it Allium reticulatum,^[3] a name that had already been used in 1819 by Jan Svatopluk Presl and Carl Borivoj Presl.^[4] In 1913 the botanists Aven Nelson and James Francis Macbride published Allium textile as the new name for the species. Together with its genus it is classified in the Amaryllidaceae family.^[3] A. textile is placed within section Amerallium, subgenus Amerallium.^[5]^[6]

The species has five synonyms.^[3]

Table of Synonyms
Name	Year	Rank	Notes
Allium angulosum Pursh	1813	species	= het., nom. illeg., not L. 1753
Allium aridum Rydb.	1917	species	= het.
Allium reticulatum Fraser ex G.Don	1827	species	≡ hom., nom. illeg., not J. Presl & C. Presl 1817
Allium reticulatum var. playanum M.E.Jones	1908	variety	= het.
Maligia laxa Raf.	1837	species	= het.
Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym

Distribution and habitat

The native range of A. textile extends across the Great Plains states from Oklahoma to Montana and Minnesota, plus the Rocky Mountain and Great Basin states from northern New Mexico to Washington, plus the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. There is also a report of an isolated population in Indiana.^[7]^[8] Allium textile grows on dry, sunlit locations at elevations of 300–2400 m.^[7]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

References

Citations

↑ NatureServe 2026.
↑ drawing from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. Vol. 1: 500.
1 2 3 POWO 2026b.
↑ POWO 2026a.
↑ Choi et al 2012.
↑ Choi et al 2011.
1 2 McNeal Jr., Dale W.; Jacobsen, T. D. (2002). "Allium textile". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
↑ Kartesz, John T. (2014). "Allium textile". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP).
↑ Nelson, Aven; Macbride, James Francis (1913). "Western Plant Studies. II". Botanical Gazette. 56 (6): 470. doi:10.1086/331195. S2CID 224844931.
↑ Presl, Jan Svatopluk; Presl, Carl Bořivoj (1819). Flora Čechica. p. 73.
↑ Don, George (1832) [written 1826]. "A Monograph of the Genus Allium". Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. Vol. 6. The Society. p. 36.
↑ Cronquist, A.J.; Holmgren, A. H.; Holmgren, N. H.; Reveal, J. L.; Holmgren, P. K., eds. (1977). "Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A.". Intermountain Flora. Vol. 6. New York: Hafner Publishing Company. pp. 1–584.
↑ Great Plains Flora Association, ed. (1986). Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
↑ Moss, E. H. (1983). Flora of Alberta (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802025081.

Sources

Journal articles

Choi, Hyeok Jae; Cota-Sánchez, J. Hugo (September 2010). "A taxonomic revision of Allium (Alliaceae) in the Canadian prairie provinces" (PDF). Botany. 88 (9): 787–809. doi:10.1139/B10-056. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-19. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
Choi, Hyeok Jae; Giussani, Liliana M.; Jang, Chang Gee; Oh, Byoung Un; Cota-Sánchez, J. Hugo (June 2012). "Systematics of disjunct northeastern Asian and northern North American Allium (Amaryllidaceae)". Botany. 90 (6): 491–508. doi:10.1139/b2012-031. hdl:11336/68813.
Choi, Hyeok Jae; Davis, Arthur R.; Cota-Sánchez, J. Hugo (2011). "Comparative Floral Structure of Four New World Allium (Amaryllidaceae) Species". Systematic Botany. 36 (4): 870–882. doi:10.1600/036364411x604895. S2CID 85573965.

Web sources

NatureServe (5 June 2026). "Allium textile". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
POWO (2026a). "Allium reticulatum J.Presl & C.Presl". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
POWO (2026b). "Allium textile A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 June 2026.

External links

"Allium textile". Plants for a Future.

This Allium article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[FOOTNOTENatureServe2026-1] NatureServe 2026.

[2] rawing from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. Illustrated flora of the northern states and Canada. Vol. 1: 500.

[FOOTNOTEPOWO2026b-3] 1 2 3 POWO 2026b.

[FOOTNOTEPOWO2026a-4] POWO 2026a.

[FOOTNOTEChoi_et_al2012-5] Choi et al 2012.

[FOOTNOTEChoi_et_al2011-6] Choi et al 2011.

[fna-7] 1 2 McNeal Jr., Dale W.; Jacobsen, T. D. (2002). "Allium textile". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

[8] Kartesz, John T. (2014). "Allium textile". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP).

[9] Nelson, Aven; Macbride, James Francis (1913). "Western Plant Studies. II". Botanical Gazette. 56 (6): 470. doi:10.1086/331195. S2CID 224844931.

[10] Presl, Jan Svatopluk; Presl, Carl Bořivoj (1819). Flora Čechica. p. 73.

[11] Don, George (1832) [written 1826]. "A Monograph of the Genus Allium". Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. Vol. 6. The Society. p. 36.

[12] Cronquist, A.J.; Holmgren, A. H.; Holmgren, N. H.; Reveal, J. L.; Holmgren, P. K., eds. (1977). "Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A.". Intermountain Flora. Vol. 6. New York: Hafner Publishing Company. pp. 1–584.

[13] Great Plains Flora Association, ed. (1986). Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

[14] Moss, E. H. (1983). Flora of Alberta (2nd ed.). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802025081.

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