Allium humile Kunth

A plant of high altitudes in the northern regions of our area.

Plants 8-30 cm tall. Bulb cylindrical, coats reticulate fibrous, light brown. Leaves 4-6, linear, 1-5 mm broad, not fistular, apex obtuse. Scapes 5-25 cm tall, somewhat compressed and narrowly winged, base surrounded by leaf bases. Umbels hemispherical. Flowers laxly arranged. Pedicels almost as long as the flowers, longer in the fruiting stage. Tepals white, lanceolate, 7-10 mm long. Filaments about half as long as the tepals, entire, connate at the base. Style short. Seeds ovate, c. 3 mm long.

Bulb solitary, cylindric; tunic brown, reticulate or subreticulate. Leaves 4--7, linear, 4--5 mm wide, flat, solid, fleshy, apex obtuse. Scape 5--15 cm, slightly compressed, covered with leaf sheaths only at base. Umbel hemispheric, many flowered. Pedicels subequal, 1.5--2 × as long as perianth. Perianth broadly exposed, white; segments with yellowish green midvein, lanceolate, 7--8(--10) × ca. 2 mm. Filaments equal, ca. 1/2 as long as perianth segments. Ovary obconical-globose. Style short; stigma slightly 3-cleft. Fl. Jun.

Distribution: Himalayas in India and Pakistan.

NW Xizang, NW Yunnan [India, Pakistan].

Fl.Per.: June July.

Slopes at high elevations; 4000--4500m.

Allium gowanianum Wallich ex Baker; A. nivale Jacquemont ex J. D. Hooker & Thomson.

Allium humile is an Asian species of wild onion found at high elevations (4000–4500 m) in India (Jammu-Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh), Nepal, northern Pakistan, Tibet, and Yunnan.

Allium humile has narrow, cylindrical bulbs. Scape is up to 15 cm tall, slightly compressed. Leaves are flat, fleshy, linear, about 5 mm wide. Umbel is hemispheric, crowded with many flowers. Tepals are white with yellowish-green midveins.

The species formerly included a variety Allium humile var. trifurcatum F.T.Wang & Tang which is since 1991 called Allium trifurcatum (F.T.Wang & Tang) J.M.Xu.