Allium cristophii
Persian onion
Family AmaryllidaceaeAlso called star of Persia
About
Allium cristophii, star of Persia, is an ornamental onion grown worldwide for its huge, silvery-pink globes of starry flowers.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Toxic to cats and dogs.
- People
- Low toxicity; eating large quantities may cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. General guidance for the genus
- Light
- Sun to part shade.
- Water
- Avoid overly damp ground; wet conditions invite bulb rot and other fungal problems. General guidance for the genus
- Soil
- Sandy, gritty soil with good drainage.
- Propagation
- Divide bulb offsets in spring; seed is slower and may take years to germinate. General guidance for the genus
- Mature size
- About 50 cm tall; flower heads 20–25 cm across.
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 5–8.
“General guidance for the genus” marks advice sourced for the genus as a whole rather than this species.
Field notes
Morphology
Reaches about 50 cm, with showy umbels 20–25 cm across of silvery-pink, star-shaped flowers in early summer, followed by decorative seed heads.
Distribution & habitat
Native to Iran, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
Cultivation notes
Widely planted as an ornamental bulb, sometimes sold as Allium albopilosum. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit and does best in sun to part shade in sandy, gritty, free-draining soil.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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