知母薤 zhi mu xie

Allium renardii Regel; A. urceolatum Regel.

Bulb solitary, ovoid-globose, 1--1.5 cm in diam., with grayish brown or violet bulbels at base; tunic gray, subleathery to papery. Leaves 2 or 3, slightly shorter to slightly longer than scape, 1--3 mm wide, semiterete, sometimes fistulose, adaxially channeled, scabrous-denticulate, rarely subsmooth. Scape 15--65 cm, scabrous-denticulate or rarely subsmooth, covered with leaf sheaths for 1/4--1/2 its length. Spathe persistent. Umbel hemispheric to globose, densely many flowered, sometimes with a few bulblets, never with bulblets only. Pedicels equal, 2--3(--5) × as long as perianth, bracteolate. Perianth azure, rarely white; segments with darker midvein, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, equal, 4--6 mm, apex subobtuse; inner ones slightly wider than outer. Filaments 3/4 as long as to equaling perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments; outer ones narrowly triangular; inner ones broadened for ca. 2/3 their length, to 2 × as wide as outer ones, with 1 obtuse tooth on each side. Style slightly exserted. Fl. and fr. May--Jun. 2 n = 16, 32.

Deserts, dry pastures; 700--2000 m. N and W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan].