Kingdom Plantae Clade Monocots Family Amaryllidaceae | Clade Angiosperms Order Asparagales Subfamily Allioideae | |
Similar Twincrest Onion, Allium stellatum, Snow Mountain Garlic, Onion cake, Water | ||
Allium anceps, known by the common names twinleaf onion and Kellogg's onion, is a species of wild onion. It is native to the western United States, where it is widespread in Nevada, its range extending into adjacent parts of California, Idaho, and Oregon. It grows in barren clay and rocky soils.
This perennial herb produces a flowering scape from a bulb up to 2 centimeters long and wide. There are up to 5 bulbs, sometimes wrapped together in the brown or yellow-brown outer coat. There are two flat, smooth-edged, sickle-shaped leaves up to 26 centimeters long. The scape is erect, up to 15 centimeters tall, and flattened with winged edges. It bears an umbel of 15 to 35 flowers with two spathes at the base. The star-shaped flower is roughly a centimeter wide with six greenish-veined pink tepals. The six stamens are tipped with yellow anthers bearing yellow pollen. Once the seeds mature the scape dies and breaks off, usually along with the leaves.
The bulbs are edible and were a food source for the Paiute people, who roasted them and pressed them into cakes.