# Hooker's onion

*Allium acuminatum*

The bulbs were historically a valuable food source for Indigenous peoples, who cooked them in pit ovens to sweeten their flavor.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Asparagales › Amaryllidaceae › Allium
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Dry, rocky soils, grassy slopes, sagebrush steppe, and open coniferous forests.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (Photosynthetic)
- **Range:** Western North America, Pacific Northwest, California, British Columbia, Great Basin
- **Size:** 10 to 40 cm tall, with bulbs 1 to 2 cm in diameter
- **Lifespan:** Perennial (individual bulbs can live for several years, regenerating annually)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to urban development, invasive weed encroachment, and over-foraging in localized areas.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless to touch. If foraging, exercise extreme caution: Hooker's onion closely resembles the highly toxic Death Camas (Toxicoscordion venenosum) when not in bloom. Ensure a positive identification by the distinct onion odor. If poisoned by a lookalike, seek emergency medical help immediately.

## About

Allium acuminatum , also known as the tapertip onion or Hooker's onion , a species in the genus Allium and is native to the Western United States and Canada. It has been reported from every state west of the Rocky Mountains, plus British Columbia.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/08e642b1-1693-42b2-84cc-f312cd75c8a7
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59782
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium acuminatum
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/7767834/medium.jpg (Alex Abair, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.