Amaryllis Family – Amaryllidaceae
Actual flower size: 3/4 inch wide
Plant Description: Rock Onion is perennial with a 4 inches long flowering stem which is round, somewhat ridged, reddish, with an umbel of flowers above 2 large, sharply pointed bracts. The pedicels are 1 to 3 times as long as the tepals. The 2 leaves are long and narrow, deeply grooved or flattened, and persist after blooming.
Flower Description: The 1/3 inch long tepals are white or pinkish, pointed, with greenish or pinkish mid-rib. The 6 stamen are about the same length as the tepals with dark purplish-brown or reddish anthers.
Ecology: Rock Onion grows in very poor, thin rocky soils in the shrub steppe of eastern Washington.
Note: Rock Onion has been moved from the Lily Family to the Amaryllis Family. See “APG Changes” page.
Rock Onion Photo Gallery