46 Nebraskaland • December 2020
Plains Onion
The Not So Plain
Story and photos by Gerry Steinauer
f our state's six species of native onion, the Plains onion,
though small in stature, has the largest, and in my
opinion, most elegant fl owers. Unlike the other onions,
its fl owers are scented, a sweet fragrance reminiscent of
hyacinths or cloves. Unfortunately, hidden among the prairie
grasses, this uncommon little onion is rarely seen, except
when exposed by its colorful May blooms.
Rose-colored Petals
Aptly named, the Plains onion (Allium perdulce) grows
throughout the central Plains from South Dakota through
central Nebraska and into northern Mexico. In our state, it is
found in mixed-grass prairie mostly on loam to loamy sand
soils, but avoids the pure sands of the Sandhills.
In spring, the plant sprouts two to four slender, grass-like
leaves from a bean-sized bulb with a fi brous coating and
typical onion odor and taste. In favorable years, the bulb also
sends up a single fl owering stem at the top of which develops
a tight head of urn-shaped blooms with rose-colored petals
that fade to purple. In the onion's far southern range, the
fl owers are white to pale pink in color, and oddly, nearly
odorless.
After the small, black seeds mature in midsummer, the
stem and leaves wither, and the plant survives the heat of late
summer as a bulb only. In autumn, if moisture is plentiful, the
bulb sprouts a rosette of leaves to harvest the fading sunlight
and replenish its bulb with starches before winter's onset.
In a rock garden on the warm south side of our brick house,
where the plant is grown as an ornamental, these leaves
persist well into winter, even when covered in snow.
In Nebraska, the Plains onion is most similar in appearance
to the prairie onion (A. textile), which grows in our dry, western
prairies and has white, unscented fl owers. The Canada onion
(A. canadensis), common in eastern Nebraska prairies, diff ers
from the Plains onion by having white to lavender fl owers in
an open head. It is also a taller and more robust plant.
The Hidden Onion
During my career, I have crossed paths with the Plains
onion perhaps only 10 times. The fi rst was about 20 years
ago, when I came upon a couple of fl owering plants in a small,
degraded prairie in Hamilton County. The largest population
I have encountered was located on a high prairie ridge top
overlooking the Missouri River near Santee and contained a
O
The rising prairie sun adorns the delicate fl owers of Plains
onion.
