Chinese field garlic, Long-stamen onion
Allium macrostemon

Family: Amaryllidaceae

What it is like

An onion family plant. A bulb plant. It grows to 60 cm high. There is only one bulb. It is 0.7-1.5 cm across. It can have small bulbils at the base. The covering is blackish and papery. The leave are shorter than the scape. They are 2-5 mm wide. They can be 3 angled. The scape is 30-70 cm long. The flower head is half round with many flowers and bulblets.

There are about 300-700 Allium species. Most species of Allium are edible (Flora of China). All alliums are edible but they may not all be worth eating! They have also been put in the family Alliaceae.

Where it is found

It is a temperate climate plant. It grows naturally on meadows and arable land in China, Japan. It grows from sea level to 1600 m altitude in N China and 3000 m in S China. It grows in Sichuan and Yunnan.

Countries/locations it is found in

Asia, China, Georgia, Himalayas, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Tibet

How it is used for food

The bulbs are eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are eaten raw or cooked. The flowers are used raw to flavour salads. The young plants before flowering are mixed with flour and cooked in soups.

Edible parts

Flowers, leaves, root, bulb, spice

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed or by dividing the clumps.

Its other names

Local names

Jiecong, No-binu, Nobiru, Sandallae, Tengern betehi, Togdausu, Togtuus, Wu tu, Xiao suan, Xie bai

Synonyms

Allium chanetii H. Leveille; Allium grayi Regel; Allium grayi var. chanetii (H.Leveille)H.Leveille; Allium iatasen H. Leveille; Allium nereidum Hance; Allium nipponicum Franchet & Savatier; Allium ouensanense Nakai; Allium uratense Franchet;