Allium flavum explained

Allium flavum, the small yellow onion^[1] or yellow-flowered garlic, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Allium.A bulbous herbaceous perennial, it is native to the lands surrounding the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas, from areas like France and Morocco to Iran and Kazakhstan.^{[2] [3]}

Description

Allium flavum produces one bulb, and a scape up to 40 cm tall. The Umbel contains bright yellow, bell shaped flowers with a pleasing scent.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} The Latin species epithet flavum means "yellow", referring to its flower colour.^[9] It flowers between June and July and is hardy to USDA zones 4 to 8.^[1]

In cultivation in the UK, Allium flavum has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[10]

Varieties and subspecies

Numerous names have been proposed but only the following are accepted by the World Checklist^[11]

• Allium flavum subsp. flavum - Turkey, central + southern Europe
• Allium flavum subsp. ionochlorum Maire - Algeria, Morocco
• Allium flavum var. minus Boiss. - Turkey
• Allium flavum var. pilosum Kollmann & Koyuncu - Adana Province in Turkey
• Allium flavum subsp. tauricum (Besser ex Rchb.) K.Richt - Middle East, Greece, Romania, Ukraine, European Russia, Caucasus, Kazakhstan

Notes and References

1. Ellen Spector Platt
2. http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=allium+flavum Altervista Flora Italiana, Allium flavum
3. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71481/ Dave's Garden Plant Files, Allium flavum, Fragrant Yellow Onion
4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358317#page/310/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 298-299
5. Soó von Bere, Károly Rezső. 1971. Acta Botanica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Budapest. 16(3-4): 365, as Allium flavum var. adriaticum
6. Priszter, Szaniszló. 1972. Botanikai Közlemenyek. Budapest 59(1): 46, as Allium flavum f. bulbilliferum
7. Allioni, Carlo. 1785. Flora Pedemontana sive Enumeratio Methodica Stirpium Indigenarum Pedemontii ii. 157., as Allium paniculatum
8. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7430295#page/147/mode/1up Rafinesque, Constantine Samuel 1837. Flora Telluriana 2: 19
9. Archibald William Smith
10. Web site: RHS Plantfinder - Allium flavum. Royal Horticultural Society . 2017 . 5 January 2018.
11. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=295577 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families