Allium karataviense is a species of onion in the Amaryllis family.Eduard August von Regel. 1875. Trudy Imperatorskago S.-Peterburgskago Botaniceskago Sada. Acta Horti Petropolitani 3(2): 243RHS Plant Finder 2009–2010, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2009, It is commonly known as Turkistan onion or ornamental onion.

It is native to Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and is cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental plant.Brickell, Christopher (Editor-in-chief),The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, Dorling Kindersley, London, 1996, Hessayon, D. G. The Bulb Expert. Transworld Publishers Ltd. Londres, 1999 It has been selected for the Great Plant Picks list of outstanding plants for the maritime Pacific Northwest. The Latin specific epithet karataviense means of the Karatau Mountains in Kazakhstan, in reference to the plant's native range.

Description

Allium karataviense is an herbaceous, bulb-forming species. It produces a basal rosette of wide, arching leaves.Rosella Rossi. 1990. Guía de Bulbos. Grijalbo. Barcelona Basal leaves are broad-elliptic, spreading, gray-green, and appear in pairs. Flowers are lilac to pink in color and have a mild fragrance.

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