Plant Name

Scientific Name: Nothoscordum bivalve

Synonyms: Allium bivalve, A. striatum, Nothoscordum striatum, N. texanum, Ornithogalum bivalve

Common Names: Crowpoison, Crow Poison, False Garlic, Texas False Garlic

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland, Riparian. This wildflower grows in upland riparian areas, grasslands, and oak, pinyon, and juniper woodlands.

Flower Color: White to yellowish cream

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer

Height: Up to 2 feet (60 cm) tall

Description: The non-fragrant flowers are in usually 3 to 6-flowered, often asymmetrical umbels atop tall, erect main flower stalks that are circular in cross section. There are 2 persistent, papery bracts at the base of each umbel. The individual flowers are 1/2 to almost 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) in diameter and have 6 stamens, yellow anthers, and 6 tepals (3 petals and 3 petal-like sepals) with a reddish, purplish, brownish, or greenish midvein. The flowers are followed by small, rounded seed capsules. The leaves are green, hairless, narrowly linear in shape, basal, and grasslike in appearance. The plants emerge from brown, rounded underground bulbs and do not produce bulblets. The plant parts are odorless.

Texas False Garlic (Nothoscordum texanum) is now considered to be this species.

The other North American species of Nothoscordum look very similar, but they are not found in Arizona and have fragrant flowers. Onions (Allium spp.) also look similar, but their plant parts have an onion odor.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Subclass: Liliidae
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae – Lily family
Genus: Nothoscordum Kunth – false garlic
Species: Nothoscordum bivalve (L.) Britton – crowpoison