Here is the cycle from buds to seed for the native North American plant, Nodding wild onion - Allium cernuum - from the Liliaceae family. It is widespread in North America, but scattered.

An interesting historical fact is that the city of Chicago gets its name from the Algonquin Indian name for this plant, chigagou. The massive recently released book Flora of the Chicago Region features a picture of a dense stand of Nodding wild onion stretching to the horizon! The location is not revealed, but the photo is fairly recent.

I wonder if this observer was seeing Nodding wild onion, that at one time occurred in massive stands in the Chicago area:

“The country about Chicago, for the distance of twelve miles from the lake, is mostly a low prairie covered with grass and beautiful flowers. Southwest from the town there is not one tree to be seen; the horizon rests upon the prairie. North, on the lake, is sandy hills and barren. Between there and the north branch is a swampy, marshy place, and there is a marshy place on the south branch. The town stands on the highest part of the prairie, and in the wet part of the season the water is so deep that it is necessary to wade from the town for some miles to gain the dry prairie. Notwithstanding the water standing on the prairie and the low, marshy places, and the dead-looking river, it is considered a healthy place. It has almost a continual lake breeze, which will explain in a measure the healthiness of the place. And another reason is the cleansing of the river water by the winds driving the pure lake water into and then running out again.”

- Colbee C. Benton, 1833

According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: "One of the rarer Carolinian species because of its restricted habitat. It is principally found on Lake Erie islands, the southern most land in Canada." OK...that is interesting. "Carolinian" means the North American hardwood forest zone, although that term is almost exclusively used in Canada.

Nodding wild onion at the USDA website:

https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ALCE2

Nodding wild onion at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website:

https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ALCE2

Mike



Nodding wild onion I on Flickr



Nodding wild onion II on Flickr



Nodding wild onion III



Nodding wild onion IV on Flickr



Nodding wild onion V on Flickr



Nodding wild onion VI on Flickr



Nodding wild onion VII on Flickr