Allium odorum Thunberg, Fl. Jap. 132. 1784, not Linnaeus (1767); A. bakeri Regel var. morrisonense (Hayata) Tang S. Liu & S. S. Ying; A. japonicum Regel; A. morrisonense Hayata; A. taquetii H. Léveillé.

Bulb solitary, rarely paired, ovoid to ovoid-cylindric, 1--2 cm in diam.; outer tunic whitish black-brown to dirty black, membranous to scarious or subpapery, apex sometimes laciniate to fibrous. Leaves linear, longer than scape, 2--4 mm wide, 3-angled, subfistulose, margin smooth, apex attenuate. Scape 25--40(--50) cm, covered with leaf sheaths for 1/4--1/3 its length. Spathe 1- or 2-valved, persistent; beak short. Umbel subfascicled to globose, laxly many flowered. Pedicels subequal, 3--4 × as long as perianth, bracteolate. Perianth red to purple; segments with dark midvein, ovate-elliptic, 5--6 × 2.5--3.5 mm, apex obtuse; outer ones boat-shaped, shorter than inner. Filaments subulate, ca. 1.5 × as long as perianth segments, connate at base and adnate to perianth segments; inner ones sometimes with 1 very small tooth on each side. Ovary subglobose. Style long exserted. Fl Aug--Oct. 2 n = 16*, 32.

Forest margins, slopes, pastures; near sea level to 1300 m. Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, E Hubei, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, E Nei Mongol, S Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Taiwan [Japan, Korea].