Bulb solitary or clustered, cylindric, rarely ovoid-cylindric, 1--2(--4.5) cm in diam.; tunic white, rarely pale red-brown, membranous to thinly leathery, entire. Leaves subequaling scape, 0.5--1.5 cm wide. Scape 30--50(--100) cm, terete, fistulose, covered with leaf sheaths for ca. 1/3 its length. Spathe 2-valved, persistent. Umbel globose, many flowered. Pedicels subequal, slender, 1--3 × as long as perianth, ebracteolate. Perianth white; segments ovate, 6--8.5 × 2.5--3 mm, apex acuminate, with a reflexed point; inner ones slightly longer than outer. Filaments equal, 1.5--2 × as long as perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments. Ovary obovoid, with inconspicuous nectaries at base. Style exserted. Fl. and fr. Apr--Aug. 2 n = 16*.

Cultivated as a vegetable since ancient times [possibly native to W China, but no wild plants have been collected; widely cultivated elsewhere].