Wildflower Walks

Nodding onion

Allium cernuum

Description: Cluster of 25 to 40 small white or pink flowers, with stamens longer than petals or sepals, that hangs from a bent stalk 6 to 18 inches tall with grasslike leaves growing from the base. Found in dry to moist valleys, open hills and ridges. Blooms mid-June to early August. (“Peterson Field Guides: Rocky Mountain Wildflowers,” by John J. Craighead, Frank C. Craighead and Ray J. Davis.)

Recently seen: Pattee Canyon and Rattlesnake national recreation areas.

The walk: Follow Van Buren Street and Rattlesnake Drive a little more than four miles north of Interstate 90. Turn northwest on Sawmill Gulch Road and continue about a quarter-mile to the main Rattlesnake trailhead. Follow the wide main path along the creek and through the forest, connecting with smaller trails on the west bank along the way. Look for nodding onion in the first couple of miles from the trailhead. Turn around at your leisure, or continue up the 15-mile main trail.

Justin Grigg