Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center


Home	About NPWRC	Our Science	Staff	Employment	Contacts	Common Questions	About the Site

Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Tall Swamp Onion
Allium validum S. Wats.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Lily (Liliaceae)
Flowering: June-September
Field Marks: This onion is stout, growing to a height of 3 feet. There are several bulbs formed along a rhizome. The six stamens are exerted above the sepals and petals.
Habitat: Wet meadows.
Habit: Perennial herb with several oblongoid to ovoid bulbs formed along a rhizome.
Stems: Upright, stout, somewhat flattened, up to 3 feet tall, smooth.
Leaves: Several, basal, flat, elongated, up to 1/2 inch wide, rounded or barely pointed at the tip.
Flowers: 15-30 in a terminal umber, each flower on a slender stalk 1/2-3/4 inch long.
Sepals and Petals: 6, similar, free from each other, pink, narrowly lanceolate, up to 1/2 inch long, pointed at the tip.
Stamens: 6, exerted above the sepals and petals.
Pistils: Ovary superior.
Fruits: Capsules nearly spherical, 1/4-1/3 inch in diameter, with several long, slender, not shiny seeds.

Previous Species -- Narrow-leaf Water-plantain (Alisma gramineum)
Return to Species List -- Group 4
Next Species -- Garden Asparagus-fern (Asparagus officinalis )

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/4/allivali.htm
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:24:56 EST
Sioux Falls, SD [sdww54]