Nodding Wild Onion is a delightful member of the onion family, a perennial herb which is beautifull as well as hardy and well behaved in the garden. Flat, grass-like leaves emerge as a clump from rhizomatous bulbs, followed by taller, round, leafless flowering stalks which bend over, dangling clusters of dainty little white, pink or lavender flowers with yellow exserted stamens and pistils (“cernuous” = “drooping, as a flower; nodding”) This cool season flowering perennial, found in counties sprinkled across the NC piedmont and mountain regions, is soil adaptable, thriving in sunny habitats with well drained alkaline, neutral or even acidic soils. Pollinated mostly by bees (which can do their business upside down), Nodding Wild Onion is what most gardenerss appreciate most – a carefree and cheerful plant.
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Thursday: 10-6, Friday – Saturday: 10-4, Sunday: 12-4
Allium cernuum
Key Info
Scientific Name: Allium cernuum Roth var. cernuum
Common Names: Wild Onion, Nodding Wild Onion, Lady's Leeks, Nodding Onion
Family Names: Alliaceae (Onion Family)
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Flower Color: White, Lavender, Pink/rose
Additional Info
Habit: Rhizomatous bulbs, usually clustered, give rise to grass-like leaves and several flowering stalks. Clonal offsets are produced, forming new bulbs underground.
Height: 1.5'
Spread: 1'
Soil Conditions: Moist, well drained to dry; prefers alkaline but adapts to neutral or acidic pH; light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.
Leaves: The leaf blades are simple, ascending, solid, flat, broadly V-shaped in cross section, 10-12 inches long by 1/3 inch wide, with parallel venation.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: One or two flowering stems may arise from a single underground bulb, round in cross section, recurved near the top and bearing a loose, 2-inch umbel of 30 - 50 dangling, ¼-inch, bell-shaped flowers with white, lavender or pink sometimes-incurved petals, 6 exserted yellow stamens (male parts) and a prominent style (female part). The bulbs, foliage and flowers have a light onion-y scent.
Fruit: The ovaries of the flowers develop into seed capsules which split open to release several small, brown seeds. August - October.
Natural Distribution: Open woodlands or around outcrops of calcareous rocks, in the mountains at low elevations. Nodding Onion is normally found in high-quality natural areas. Much of the prairie habitat where this plant once occurred has been replaced by development.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: FACU
Pollination: Bees.
Wildlife Connections: For foliage feeders, Nodding Onion is host to the Hairstreak Butterfly larva, and a number of insects with "onion" in their names (see Illinoiswildflower.info). The nectar and pollen of the nodding flowers attract primarily bees -- the nodding umbels are an evolutionary adaptation that tends to restrict insects feeding on nectar and pollen to bees which can hang upside down while working. Mammals usually avoid onions.
Propagation: By seed or division of bulblets in fall.
Southeastern Native Plant Nursery and Landscaping
Our Hours
Thursday: 10-6
Friday and Saturday: 10-4
Sunday: 12-4
Sunday: 12-4
And by appointment
Rachel’s Native Plants is located at The Plant
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