Allium cernuum Roth

Nodding Wild Onion

© SRTurner

Family - Liliaceae

Habit - Perennial forb from a bulb. Bulbs 1-4 cm long, narrowly elongate and tapering into the aerial stems, the outer coat smooth and membranous to papery.

	Bulb.
© SRTurner

Stems - Aerial stems 10-60 cm long, not inflated, arched or hooked near the tip at flowering.

	Stem and leaves.
© SRTurner

Leaves - Basal or nearly so, flat, linear, 10-40 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, not tapering to a petiole, the base pale green to white or light pink when fresh.

	Leaves.
© SRTurner

	Leaves.
© SRTurner

	Leaves.
© SRTurner

Inflorescences - Umbels with 25-85 flowers. Bulblets absent. Flower stalks much longer than the flowers.

	Inflorescences.
© SRTurner

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

	Inflorescence.
© SRTurner

Flowers - Perianth bell-shaped, the sepals and petals 4-6 mm long, ovate-elliptic, the tips blunt to somewhat pointed, purplish pink to pale pink, less commonly white.

	Flowers.
© SRTurner

	Flower.
© SRTurner

Fruits - Capsules 3-5 mm long, obovoid, 3-lobed, each lobe with a pair of hornlike, triangular projections near the top.

Flowering - June - September.

Habitat - Glades, bluffs, upland forests openings, mostly on dolomite, rocky roadsides.

Origin - Native to the U.S.

Lookalikes - Other species of Allium, especially A. stellatum.

Other info. - This wild onion is distinctive but often confused with others. A prime distinguishing characteristic, which gives the plant its specific name, is the bend near the top of the inflorescence stalk. However, this feature is not reliable, as other species of wild onion can also have hooked inflorescence stalks. A more reliable attribute is the shape of the individual flowers, which are more bell-shaped than the flattened morphology of A. stellatum flowers.

The species has been collected mostly in the southern half of Missouri, but is much less common than the closely related A. stellatum. It is more common in states to the west of Missouri, though the distribution map is peculiar and hints at taxonomic irregularities.

Photographs taken near the O'Connor Wildflower Prairie in Fleming Park, Jackson County, MO, 8-5-2025 (SRTurner). We thank Mike Stoakes for notification of this flowering population.