藠头jiàotóu Amaryllidaceae, Allium genus

Originally belongs to the Liliaceae family and the Allium genus.

Scientific name: Allium chinense G. Don;

Alias: 薤[xiè], buckwheat head.

The bulbs are several in clusters, narrowly ovate, (0.5-) 1-1.5(-2) cm thick; the outer skin of the bulbs is white or reddish, membranous, and not broken.

The leaves are 2-5, cylindrical with 3-5 edges, hollow, nearly as long as the scape, and 1-3 mm thick.

The scape is lateral, cylindrical, 20-40 cm high, with the lower part covered by leaf sheaths; the involucre is 2-lobed and shorter than the umbel.

The umbel is nearly hemispherical and loose; the pedicels are nearly equal in length, 1-4 times longer than the tepals, and have bracts at the base.

The flowers are lavender to dark purple; the tepals are broadly oval to nearly round, the top is blunt, 4-6 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, the inner whorl is slightly longer; the filaments are equal in length, about 1.5 times the length of the tepals, only the base is connate and adnate to the tepals, the base of the inner whorl is enlarged, with 1 tooth on each side of the enlarged part, the outer whorl is toothless and conical; the ovary is obovoid, ventral The base of the suture has a concave honey hole; the style extends outside the perianth.

The flowering and fruiting period is from October to November.

Originally produced in my country. It is widely cultivated in the Yangtze River Basin and the provinces and regions south of it, and also grows wild.

It is also cultivated in Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the United States.

(Excerpted from "Flora of China")

Picture photography: Chen Chengrong