Onions are perennial bulbs in the Allium genus of the onion family. Many of them are native to the Yuba-Sutter area.
Narrowleaf Onion
Narrowleaf onion (Allium amplectens) blooms among yellow Pacific stonecrop flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by queerbychoice. Narrowleaf onion is a pink- or white-flowering onion that is native to Yuba and Sutter Counties and typically grows at elevations below 6,000 feet. It is most often found on slopes in central oak woodland or yellow pine forest. It tolerates serpentine. Botanist Alice Eastwood collected narrowleaf onion near Marysville in 1930.1
You can see pictures of it at CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa. You can find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.
Mexicali Onion
Mexicali onion is a one-foot-tall, reddish-purple-flowering, summer-deciduous onion that is native to Yuba County and typically grows at elevations below 3,000 feet. It is found in central oak woodland and valley grassland.
You can read more about it at the Theodore Payne Wiki. You can see pictures of it at CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa. You can find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.
Papery Onion
Papery onion is a one-foot-tall, white-flowering, summer-deciduous onion that is native to Yuba County and typically grows at elevations below 4,500 feet. It is most often found on slopes in yellow pine forest. It tolerates serpentine. Rancher and amateur botanist Freed W. Hoffman collected papery onion at the east abutment of Bullards Bar Dam in 1949.2
You can read more about it at the Theodore Payne Wiki. You can see pictures of it at CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa. You can find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.
Sanborn's Onion
Sanborn's onion is a pink-flowering onion that is native to Yuba County and typically grows at elevations between 1,000 and 4,000 feet. It is found in yellow pine forest. It tolerates serpentine.
You can see pictures of it at CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa. You can find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.
Footnotes
1. Consortium of California Herbaria
2. Consortium of California Herbaria
