Japanese name: イトラッキョウ（糸辣韮、糸辣韭、糸薤） Scientific name:Allium virgunculae var. virgunculae
[Overview]
A perennial 8–20 cm tall with an underground bulb.
It grows on sunny rocky ground.
The bulb is narrowly oblong, about 20–25 mm long.
The leaves are basal, slender and cylindrical, 10–25 cm long and about 1 mm wide.
The leafless flower stalk is 8–20 cm long and bears around 10 pale reddish-purple or white flowers at its tip, which face upward.
The tepals are broadly ovate, 4–6 mm long; the outer tepals are boat-shaped and the inner tepals are flat.
The stamens are longer than the tepals.
The fruit is a capsule.
It can be distinguished from Kii-ito-rakkyo by its flowers, which face sideways to obliquely downward, and by its boat-shaped inner tepals.
[Uses]
The seeds are used medicinally.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division of bulbs.
It prefers sunny, airy, well-drained soil.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
In addition to base fertilizer, place a small amount of slow-release chemical fertilizer on the soil in spring and autumn.
Pests and diseases include aphids and leek moth.
