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| Asphodelus fistulosus |
| Family: Liliaceae (Lily) |
| Flowers — color: white, size: 3/4", type: 6 petals |
Onionweed's flower has six white to pinkish petals and sepals. These tepals have a central brown stripe. The flower arrangement is a spike, a long linear array blooming serially and each bloom attaches directly to the stem. Pollinated flowers develop into brown seedpods.
Habit:
Onionweed is a perennial herb that reemerges every rainy season. A clump of grassy leaves like chives, up to 18" tall and spreading to 18" wide.
This plant is quite hardy. When the county mowed a blooming section near the mission, the onionweed rebloomed within weeks, even though the rainy season was long gone. My neighbor tried it in her dry garden but found it hard to control. Non-native, moderately invasive, likes sunny open shoulder along Burton Mesa and Harris Grade Rd. It must need extra runoff: I never find it inside the Reserve.