It was the American botanist Soreno Watson, that named the onion collected in Tanner’s Canyon of the Huachuca Mountains to honor Sara Plummer Lemmon. He made no mistake who it honored by using her maiden name, Allium plummerae.
Common names of this borderlands native are Tanner’s Canyon onion, Plummer’s onion or around our place we call it Sara’s onion.
I thought I had some photos of Sara’s onion (Allium plummerae) taken at Onion Saddle in the Chiricahuas, but I couldn’t find them. (Why do I think they are 35 mm slides?) Instead I offer the cover of the book The Forgotten Botanist by Wynne Brown. It’s recommended reading.
Seems every few years I revisit this old poem/song of mine. It’s a true story. Oh, and the band I was in back in...
The photos are mine and of a fruity canyon hackberry (Celtis reticulata), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium!), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis!!) and the “rustyish” seed...
I think it’s fascinating that there are several species of winter fat found in Eurasia and Europe. That’s where the genus was first described...