Series A. Floral bracts scarious. Stamens perigynous on the usually withering-persistent nerved perianth; anthers introrse. Style undivided, mostly persistent. Fruit a loculicidal capsule or a berry. Leaves transversely veined.
[*] Scape from a coated bulb; fruit capsular; leaves linear.
[+] Flowers umbellate; segments 1-nerved; pedicels not jointed.
2. Allium. Perianth 6-parted. Capsule deeply lobed, often crested; cells 1–2-seeded. Very alliaceous.
3. Nothoscordum. Perianth 6-parted. Seeds several in each cell. Not alliaceous.
4. Androstephium. Perianth tubular-funnel form. Filaments in the throat, united into a crown.
[+][+] Flowers racemose, 6-parted, the segments 3–several-nerved.
5. Camassia. Flowers light blue, long racemose. Filaments filiform.
6. Ornithogalum. Flowers greenish white, sub-corymbose. Filaments dilated.
[+][+][+] Flowers densely racemose; perianth urn-shaped, 6-toothed.