''Allium aflatunense'' is a species of plant in the amaryllis family, native to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. It is commonly grown as a garden plant in other regions.Brickell, Christopher (Editor-in-chief), ''The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants'', p.95, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996, .

Description

''Allium aflatunense'' is a tall

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

ous

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

plant with basal, straplike

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, and hollow, slightly ribbed scapes (flower stems). The flower heads are dense, globular

umbels In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

, about across, made up of numerous star-shaped, purplish-pink flowers. It flowers in May and June, with

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

ripening in August. It is commonly sold as a

. ''A. aflatunense'' is often confused with '' A. hollandicum''.''RHS Plant Finder 2009–2010'', p.68, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2009, .

Cultivation

''Allium aflatunense'' is generally hardy in USDA zones 4–8. The plant is suitable for use as a cut flower. While it prefers

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...

soil, it can tolerate poor soil conditions, as well as part shade (though it does best in full sun).

References

aflatunense Onions Flora of Central Asia {{Allium-stub