Allium sp?

[Oron Peri]

Any idea which Allium it is?
Photos were taken in the Dolomiti - Italy

[arilnut]

Hi Oron.  What is the succulent in the leaves? I would rather grow it.
Not much of an onion man.


John B

[Oron Peri]

Hi Oron.  What is the succulent in the leaves? I would rather grow it.
Not much of an onion man.


John B

Hi John

You don't know what you miss by not growing onions...

The succulent is probably Sedum hispanicum at these elevations, i think S. rupestris is a lower altitude growing plant, surely the Alpins growers here have a better answer.
Regarding the Allium, first i thought it is A. senescens but somehow it looks different.

[TheOnionMan]

Any idea which Allium it is?
Photos were taken in the Dolomiti - Italy

Oron, this is Allium senescens spp. montanum (the European A. senescens").  Recent taxonomy has resurrected the older name, Allium lusitanicum, putting A. senescens ssp. montanum into synonymy, although I'm not sure how widely accepted this is.  The rationale is that Allium senescens is reserved for the Asian species with gray foliage, now separated from the European plant that is similar but with green shiny leaves.  Apparently the taxonomy and nomenclature is complex, outlined in a paper "Taxonomy, chorology and evolution of Allium lusitanicum - the European "A. senescens", by Nicolai Friesen and N. Herrmann in 1998.

Allium senescens ssp. montanum is found throughout much of Europe, including Italy, and certainly Northern Italy, quite variable in appearance throughout its range... I've grown numerous forms of it.  It can be quite ornamental in the better forms, useful for its mid to late summer bloom.  Your photo shows a good deep color form.

[Oron Peri]

Mark,
Thank you very much for the detailed information.
Oron