Allium macropetalum, the desert onion, is a species of wild onion native to the desert regions of southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is known from desert plains and hills in Sonora, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, at elevations up to 2500 m. Allium macropetalum forms egg-shaped bulbs up to 2.5 cm long. Flowers are bell-shaped, pink to purple, up to 12 mm across, with yellow or purple anthers.Cronquist, A.J., A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren & Reveal. 1977. Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. 6: 1–584. In A.J. Cronquist, A. H. Holmgren, N. H. Holmgren, J. L. Reveal & P. K. Holmgren (eds.) Intermountain Flora. Hafner Pub. Co., New York.Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas i–xv, 1–1881. The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson.Shreve, F. & I. L. Wiggins. 1964. Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert. 2 vols. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Allium macropetalum has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections1
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★ITS2
fungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB
The complete instruction manualAllium macropetalum carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy87% within 1 km
≤100 m 357≤1 km 57≤10 km 21>10 km 41
476 georeferenced · 152 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor628
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy49% within 1 km
≤100 m 22≤1 km 94≤10 km 109>10 km 11
236 georeferenced · 348 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence584
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions37 of 48 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Albuquerque, US
87
Bronx, US
75
ASUlocation not on record
58
EL PASO, US
54
Flagstaff, US
51
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
28
Pullman, US
28
Phoenix, US
26
Provo, US
18
Riverside, US
17
Musee des Dinosaures d'Esperaza (Aude)location not on record
15
Orem, US
12
Claremont, US
12
WTUlocation not on record
11
Durango, US
10
Denver, US
9
US
8
Logan, US
6
San Luis Obispo, US
5
Hermosillo, MX
5
Boise, US
5
Grand Junction, US
4
Moscow, US
3
Fort Worth, US
3
DOI/NPS, Greenbelt Parklocation not on record
3
San Angelo, US
2
Chicago, US
2
Austin, US
2
Henderson, US
2
Bangkok, TH
2
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
2
USFSlocation not on record
1
San Diego, US
1
Saint Louis, US
1
Cslocation not on record
1
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
1
Caldwell, US
1
Tampa, US
1
Wuzhou, CN
1
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
Montréal, CA
1
Chadron, US
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Columbia, US
1
Toronto, CA
1
Ashland, US
1
Bloomington, US
1
48 institutions · 582 of 584 vouchered records shown · 1 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA1 detections
Where the DNA of Allium macropetalum was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found1
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 1 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.5 °C 12.5–12.5
Seasonal swing summer↔winter27.0 °C
Max temp (day)18.4 °C
Min temp (night)8.20 °C
Precipitation79.6 mm/mo
Air humidity57.3 %
Moisture balance-38.4 mm/mo
Vapour deficit733 Pa
Wind speed5.80 m/s
Cloud cover36.7 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 1 detection point · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 246 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics1 specimens↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗