Allium senescens

Allium senescens, commonly called aging chive,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> German garlic, or broadleaf chives,<ref name=grin/> is a perennial plant in the genus Allium.

Description

It produces up to 30 pink flowers in characteristic allium umbels in the mid to late summer and grows to between 8" and 40" in height. The foliage is thin, and strap like.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies have been named:<ref name=grin/>

• Allium senescens subsp. glaucum
• Allium senescens subsp. senescens

Distribution

Allium senescens is indigenous to middle, eastern, southeastern, and southwestern Europe (in Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and the former Yugoslavia); Eurasia (in Ukraine and much of Russia, including Siberia, Amur, Buryatia, Chita, Gorno-Altay, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Primorsky Krai, and Tuva); and Asia (in Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia and China, including the provinces of Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Monggol, and northern Xinjiang).<ref name=grin/> Elsewhere it is also deliberately planted and cultivated for garden use.<ref name=grin/>

Uses

Allium senescens is grown for its ornamental and as a gene source because of its tertiary genetic relationship to A. cepa (the common onion).<ref name=grin/>

External links

• Rob's plants: Allium senescens
• Fine gardening: Allium senescens