Spherical Umbel Inflorescences of Onion Plants

July 21, 2017

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Photographer: Menashe Davidson
Summary Author: Menashe Davidson

The full Moon at the blue hour (the time before sunrise or after sunset) inspired me to observe inflorescences of onion plants on my garden apartment in Rishon LeZion, Israel. An inflorescence is the reproductive part of a plant that bears a group of flowers in a specific pattern. In onions (Allium cepa, Liliaceae) it's grown on scapes, long, leafless flowering stems rising directly from the plant bulb. Inflorescence in garden onions takes on a spherical umbel arrangement. Below, inflorescences frame the setting full Moon. Photo taken just before dawn (5:22 a.m.) on May 13, 2017.