Allium drummondii
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| Drummond's onion | ||||||||||||||
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| Allium drummondii Regel. |
Drummond's onion (Allium drummondii), also known as Wild garlic and the Prairie onion, is a perennial plant native to North America. It is utilized by a number of Native American tribes ranging from the South Texas Plains, over to New Mexico and then into California. The lovely white flowers come into bloom April through May coming in a variety of colors ranging from white to pink. Seemingly a rather nice flowering species, Allium drummondii is quite an invasive fellow.
[edit] Uses
This species of Allium is gathered by Natives for its small edible bulbs. Drummond's Onion contains a considerable amount of inulin, a non-reducing sugar that humans cannot digest. Because of this these onions must be heated for long periods of time in order to convert the inulin into digestable sugars. Tribes of the Texas and New Mexico area used the onion as an addition to meat dishes where as some tribes in California used it more primarily as a main dish.
