[*][*] Leaves varying from oblong-lanceolate to linear, narrowed at base into a short petiole, 3–5-nerved, shining above, paler or glaucous beneath, many without tendrils; peduncles short, seldom exceeding the petioles, terete; the umbels sometimes panicled; branches terete, unarmed.
10. S. lanceolàta, L. Leaves thinnish, rather deciduous, ovate-lanceolate or lance-oblong; stigmas 3; berries dull red.—Rich woods and margins of swamps, Va. to Fla., west to Ark. and Tex. June.
11. S. laurifòlia, L. Leaves thick and coriaceous, evergreen, varying from oblong-lanceolate to linear (2½–5´ long); stigmas solitary and ovary 1-celled; berries black when ripe, 1-seeded, maturing in the second year.—Pine-barrens, N. J. to Fla., west to Ark. and La. July, Aug.
2. ÁLLIUM, L. Onion. Garlic.
Perianth of 6 entirely colored sepals, which are distinct, or united at the very base, 1-nerved, often becoming dry and scarious and more or less persistent; the 6 filaments awl-shaped or dilated at base. Style persistent, but jointed upon the very short axis of the ovary, thread-like; stigma simple. Capsule lobed, loculicidal, 3-valved, with 1–2 ovoid-kidney-shaped amphitropous or campylotropous black seeds in each cell.—Strong-scented and pungent stemless herbs; the leaves and scape from a coated bulb; flowers in a simple umbel, some of them frequently changed to bulblets; spathe scarious, 1–2-valved. (The ancient Latin name of the Garlic.)
§ 1. Bulbs cespitose, narrowly oblong and crowning a rhizome; coats membranous.
[*] Leaves (2 or 3) elliptic-lanceolate; ovules solitary in each cell.
1. A. tricóccum, Ait. (Wild Leek.) Scape naked (4–12´ high from clustered pointed bulbs, 2´ long), bearing an erect many-flowered umbel; leaves 5–9´ long, 1–2´ wide; sepals oblong (greenish white), equalling the nearly distinct filaments; capsule strongly 3-lobed.—Rich woods, W. N. Eng. to Minn. and Iowa, south in the mountains to N. C. Leaves appearing in early spring and dying before the flowers are developed.
[*][*] Leaves linear; ovules a pair in each cell.
2. A. Schœnóprasum, L. (Chives.) Scape naked or leafy at base (6–12´ high), bearing a globular capitate umbel of many rose-purple flowers; sepals lanceolate, pointed, longer than the simple downwardly dilated filaments; leaves awl-shaped, hollow; capsule not crested.—From N. Brunswick and the Great Lakes to the Pacific. (Eu., Asia.)