45. Nothoscordum Kunth, Enum. Pl. 4: 457. 1843.
False onion, false garlic [Greek nothos, false, and scordon, garlic]
T. D. Jacobsen & Dale W. McNeal Jr.
Herbs, perennial, scapose, from bulbs. Bulbs in general appearance very similar to some species of Allium, without alliaceous odor; outer coats membranous. Leaves usually present at flowering time, basal, imbricate, sheathing basally; blade filiform to linear. Inflorescences umbellate, subtended by spathe bracts; bracts 2, membranous. Flowers fastigiate, withering-persistent; tepals 6, 2-whorled, connate proximal 1/3 , 1-veined, subequal; stamens 6, adnate to tepal bases, included; filaments distinct, ± dilated basally, subulate and entire apically; anthers dorsifixed, oblong, introse; ovary superior, sessile, 3-locular; ovules several(–12); style filiform; stigma terminal, small. Fruits capsular, 3-lobed, membranous, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds black, angled [compressed or almost flat].
Species ca. 19 (2 in the flora): North America, South America.
All species of Nothoscordum are native to the Americas. Nothoscordum gracile has become naturalized in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia; it spreads rapidly by seeds and bulblets.
