Onion & Garlic Family [Alliaceae] |
status
flower
morph
petals
type
stem
stem
leavessmell
leekrarity
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
A very rare plant, found in very few places. These specimens are in a garden. Medium tall to 80cm. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
The 20-30mm diameter globular dense flower-head is tightly packed with flowers. Stems stiff and round. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
The mauve-coloured flowers barely open at all, but the stamens manage to poke out. There are short papery bracts in which the globe was once wrapped. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
There are also thin white filaments that emerge from the flowers. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
The white stamens have purple anthers. The white filaments are stamens which have lost their anthers. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
Nominally it has six long triangular petals (actually sepals), but the flowers never properly open and are hard to discern. |
9th Aug 2012, Grange over Sands, Cumbrian Coast. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves are cylindrical and hollow and peel off from lower reaches of the long flower stem. |
Many similarities to : Allium scorodoprasum ssp. rotundum which is a sub-species of Sand Leek (Allium scorodoprasum) but which has a fully globed flower-head but which does not occur naturally in the UK, although can probably be bought at garden centres.
Some similarities to :
No relation to : More likely to be found growing in a garden than growing in the wild. Grows only in a few places, mostly down south. It totally lacks bulbils, but does have protruding stamens. The scientific name 'sphaerocephalon' means 'spherical brain' from the Greek σφαιρα sphaira and ενκηεφαλος encephalos, although why botanists should liken it to a brain...
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Allium | sphaerocephalon | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Alliaceae |
Allium (Onions) |
Onion & Garlic Family [Alliaceae] |