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Pictured: Allium geyeri — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Liliaceae family

Bulbil Onion (var. tenerum) Allium geyeri var. tenerum variety

Native

Bulbil Onion (var. tenerum) is a perennial wildflower native to Canada and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Allium geyeri or Geyer's onion is a North American species of onion widespread in the western United States and in western Canada. It is found in the Rocky Mountain States from New Mexico to Idaho, Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, South Dakota, Arizona, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 6 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~21 caterpillar species

Allium supports ~21 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a moderate genus.

Recorded feeding on Allium in North America, including:

Actebia fennica · owlet moth Aglossa caprealis · Meal Moth Agrotis gladiaria · Swordsman Dart Agrotis ipsilon · Dark Sword-Grass Agrotis malefida · Rascal Dart Agrotis orthogonia · Pale Western Cutworm
+ 8 more species →
Archips argyrospila · Fruit-Tree Leafroller Moth Autographa californica · Alfalfa Looper Moth Cadra cautella · Fig-Moth Cadra figulilella · snout moth Cryptoblabes gnidiella · snout moth Discestra trifolii · owlet moth Ephestia elutella · snout moth Estigmene acrea · Salt Marsh Moth
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (11) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[09] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[10] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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