Allium senescens

Allium senescens, commonly called aging chive,^[4] German garlic, broadleaf chives,^[3] or dumebuchu,^[5] is a species of flowering plant in the genus Allium (which includes all the ornamental and culinary onions and garlic).

German garlic
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily:	Allioideae
Genus:	Allium
Subgenus:	A. subg. Rhizirideum
Species:	A. senescens
Binomial name
Allium senescens L.[2]
Subspecies
A. s. subsp. montanum A. s. subsp. senescens List source: [3]

Description

A bulbous herbaceous perennial, it produces up to 30 pink flowers in characteristic allium umbels in the mid to late summer and grows 8–40 inches (20–102 cm) in height. The foliage is thin and straplike.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies have been named:^[3]

• Allium senescens subsp. glaucum
• Allium senescens subsp. senescens

Distribution

Allium senescens is native to northern Europe and Asia, from Siberia to Korea. It has been introduced and naturalized in some parts of Europe, including the Czech Republic and former Yugoslavia.^[6]

Uses

Allium senescens is grown for its ornamental qualities, and as a gene source because of its tertiary genetic relationship to A. cepa (the common onion).^[3] In the UK it has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[7]