Nodding onion (Allium cernuum)
In the same genus as our beloved cultivated onions and garlic, nodding onion (Allium cernuum) has a delicate flower with a distinctly onion-y scent. Our most common native Allium in the Puget basin, nodding onion blooms in midsummer and is found in habitats ranging from coastal to alpine.
It comes as no surprise that nodding onion’s bulb is a traditional food for local tribes, as well as having medicinal uses as a poultice! I found this patch just a few feet from the site of a former Swinomish village, Kukutali–perhaps a coincidence, but I like to think not.
What’s more, its popularity hasn’t faded! It is becoming more common as a garden plant as more and more people look to native plants for their landscaping. A trend I thoroughly endorse!
References
Mark Turner and Phyllis Gustafson, Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest (Portland: Timber Press, 2006), 307.
Native American Ethnobotany Database, Allium cernuum search, 2023.
