Allium cepiforme seed
LATIN NAME: Allium cepiforme
COMMON NAME: Allium cepiforme
Most people meet this plant’s cousins first — the onion, the chive, the garlic. This wild member of the same family grows as a low, tufted, bulbous perennial, with the fine, narrow, hollow, grass-like leaves and, through the late spring, the round, dense heads of the many small, pink, purple or white, star-shaped flowers on the slender upright stems, followed by the small, dry, black seeds. The round, tight flower heads sit neatly above the grass-like leaves, and they hold their colour for a long time in the border. It is a species of the flowering herb in the onion family, native to the warm, open places of the central and eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its fine, round, pink flower heads, and it is known by the scientific name Allium cepiforme.
The Allium cepiforme belongs to the onion family, Amaryllidaceae, and it is a low, tufted, bulbous perennial of the warm, open places of the central and eastern Asia, while it is treasured for its fine, round, pink flower heads, and it is known by the scientific name Allium cepiforme. Like its garden cousins, it grows from a small bulb, and its leaves carry the same fresh, oniony scent when bruised. It is prized for its fine, round, dense flower heads.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The allium chemistry has drawn steady interest, since the bulbs and the leaves of the family carry the sharp, sulphur-rich compounds that give the onions their bite, and researchers have looked at the wild members of the genus as well as the garden ones. The flowers of the wild alliums have also been studied for their value to the pollinators, and the round, dense heads of the small flowers have been written about in the horticultural papers as fine plants of the dry border, while the relationships among the many wild alliums have kept the botanists busy. The bulb has been studied for its storage and its hardiness, and the wild alliums have been looked at as a source of the toughness for the breeding of the garden onions. For a modest wildflower, the Allium cepiforme has a quietly busy record of study.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Around the kitchen and the border, the wild alliums are a generous lot. The round, dense heads of the small, pink flowers feed the bees and the many insects, and the small, dry seeds feed the birds, while the narrow, grass-like leaves give a fine, neat texture to the rockery and the dry border. The wild members of the onion family have long flavoured the cooking of the region, and their fine, round, pink flower heads have made them treasured plants of the dry garden. The dense flower heads dry well, and they keep their colour in the winter border, while the small bulbs multiply quietly under the ground. The Allium cepiforme is an easy, rewarding plant for the grower, and for the gardener it brings a round-headed, pink-flowered, grass-leaved plant. These are willing seeds — sprinkle them over the surface of pots of gritty, free-draining soil and just press them in without covering them, since they like a little light, keep the pots in a bright, open spot and water them gently, and they’ll be up before long.