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NAME:  Wild Onion

SPECIES / FAMILY:  Allium Canadense / Amaryllidaceae

OTHER COMMON NAME(S):  meadow garlic, Canada onion

CONDITIONS: sun
 

PARTS:	EDIBLE	TASTE	RAW/COOK	SEASON
All
Shoots
Leaves		onion	RAW/COOK	all year
Buds/Flowers		garlic	RAW	Spring-Summer
Fruits
Roots		garlic	RAW/COOK	Spring best
Seeds
Nuts
Pods
Stalk
Bark

 

PORTION: small, herb

 

COMMENT: Winter is the easiest time to spot wild onion, although you can harvest it any time. // All parts are edible, either raw or cooked and can be used as a vegetable or as a flavoring in soups, stews, and salads.  The bulbs can also be pickled. Flowers are best eaten raw with a bit stronger flavor than the leaves, especially as the seeds begin to form. Some forms of this species produce bulbils. These top-setting bulbils make a fine onion flavored pickle. They are said to have a superior flavor to other pickled onions.(1)

 

For differences between wild garlic and wild onion, see complete text at bottom:

• wild garlic bulb produces one plant/stem, leaves are hallow, branch off of main stem, flowers are green or purple

• wild onion bulb produces many stems/leaves, leaves are flat, branch off of plant base, flowers are white or pink,

CAUTION:

 

NUTRITION/MEDICINAL:  Antiasthmatic;  Carminative;  Cathartic;  Diuretic;  Expectorant;  Stimulant.(1) Also: https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/onions-full-of-nutrients

 

LOOK-A-LIKES:  Wild Garlic - http://www.wildfoodies.org/Garlic.htm

 

POISONOUS LOOK-A-LIKES:  Star of Bethlehem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithogalum_umbellatum

 

OTHER USES:

 

SOURCE LINKS (may include nutritional and medicinal info, plus other uses):

1. https://pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Allium+canadense

2. http://www.eattheweeds.com/allium-canadense-the-stinking-rose-2

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_canadense

4. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=Allium+canadense&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image

5. http://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/onion-wild.html  (good photos)

6. https://www.quirkyscience.com/you-can-eat-onion-grass (recipe)

7. https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2013/02/20/a-lawn-weed-thats-a-scallion-substitute (recipe)

      Wild garlic Allium vineale L. vs. Wild onion Allium canadense L. Liliaceae (Lily family) Life cycle Perennial. Leaves of wild garlic are hollow and branch off the main stem. Leaves of wild onion are flat, not hollow, and emerge from the base of the plant. Leaves of both plants are thin, green and waxy, and can be confused with grasses when young. Stems Wild garlic stems occur singly, are hollow and branched into leaves. Wild onion stems occur in bunches, are not hollow and not branched. Both emit a garlic odor when crushed or cut. Wild garlic flowers may be green or purple; wild onion flowers are generally white or pink and are found on top of solid flowering stems. In both species, flowers are often replaced by aerial bulbs. Reproduction Aerial and underground bulblets primarily, occasionally seed. Wild garlic bulbs have a thin membranous covering. Wild onion bulbs have a net-veined covering. https://www.canr.msu.edu/ipm/uploads/files/Field_Crops_PDFs/wild_garlic_vs_wild_onion.pdf