Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Allium praecox is a species of wild onion known by the common name early onion. It is native to the coastal hills and mountains of southern California and Baja California, including the Channel Islands, where it grows in shady areas in clay soils. This onion grows from a brownish or grayish bulb between one and two centimeters long. It produces a stem up to 60 centimeters long and two or three long, keeled leaves about the same length or sometimes a little longer. The flower cluster holds up to 40 flowers, each on a long pedicel up to 4 centimeters long. The flowers are purple-veined pink and dry to a papery texture as they age.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

2 - 3 ft Tall
2 - 3 ft Wide

Form

Fountain, Rounded

Growth rate

Fast

Dormancy

Summer Deciduous

Fragrance

Slight

Calscape icon
Color

Pink

Flowering season

Winter, Spring

Sun

Partial Shade

Water

Moderate

Summer irrigation

Max 2x / month once established

Soil drainage

Medium, Slow

Soil description

Heavy, damper soil.

Sunset Zones

7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Chaparral, oak woodland, grassy slopes, meadows and moist grasslands of southern California

Plant communities

Chaparral, Southern Oak Woodland

Hummingbirds
Bees
Butterflies

Pollinators supported

0 confirmed and 93 likely

  • Likely

  • Confirmed

Adela septentrionella

Adela trigrapha

Angelic Sweat Bee

Agapostemon angelicus

Alypia mariposa

See all

Onions

Allium cepa

Peas

Lathyrus oleraceus