The Species of October 2016

Scientific name: Allium autumnale
Family: LILIACEAE

Description
Wild onion species. Perennial, bulbous and erect with a bare cylindrical trunk, whose height ranges between 10 and 60 cm. Leaves two or three, oversized, simple, entire, linear, which reach to the top of the trunk, have visible streaks and size 5 – 25 x 0.2 cm. Flowers small, radial, with almost equal peduncles, which are found in squash and pointed inflorescence. Their rim is cylindrical with 6 petals  and white or dark lilac or white-brown color, with a green axial line in the center of the outer surface.

Flowering: October to November. Fruit capsule [1].

Habitat – Spread
It is found in pine forest, fields and vineyards, even in areas with limestone, sandstone or refractory slopes, in an altitude range of 150 – 1225 meters [1,3,4]. On our island it is found in the Troodos Forest, in Saitta, in the Machairas Forest, in the Forest Aderfoi (Kapouras), in the Pentadaktylos and in the northern coastal areas [1,4].

Protection
It is protected by the status of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It was rated as the least worrying species due to its fairly large population in northern and central Cyprus. It is not threatened, despite the dangers posed by the increased frequency and intensity of fires and the fact that its extent is less than 10,000 km2. Part of its population is included in protected areas, but unfortunately it is not actively monitored or managed [4].

Source: 
[1] Τα ενδημικά φυτά της Κύπρου, Συγκρότημα Τράπεζας Κύπρου, Παγκύπρια Ένωση Δασολόγων, Λευκωσία 1995.
[2] http://bit.ly/2cDE8EQ
[3] http://www.flora-of-cyprus.eu/cdm_dataportal/taxon/b47ff91f-a705-4adf-b4d5-89b39247c06c#altitudinal_range
[4] http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/172103/0

Image source:
Τα ενδημικά φυτά της Κύπρου, Συγκρότημα Τράπεζας Κύπρου, Παγκύπρια Ένωση Δασολόγων, Λευκωσία 1995.