You know it’s spring in central Texas when you start smelling the Wild Onions. This is especially true if you happen to be near a field that is being mowed. The aroma is amazing. The flowers in the image below are from a blooming Wild Onion plant that was growing near Bull Creek in Austin, TX. I was out practicing my wildflower photography there when I spotted the plant and I took quite a few photos trying to improve my backgrounds.
I just learned that people in the south and western parts of Cuba cultivate these Wild Onions as a vegetable in their home gardens. In our part of the world, it was collected centuries ago by Native American Indians and by European settlers. Various American tribes also used the plant as an insect repellent, although, I can’t imagine walking around smelling like an onion…
Wild Onions can cause illness in some people and animals. As it turns out, Wild Onions are somewhat toxic, although, it would require one to ingest quite a bit to develop significant symptoms. Livestock has also been poisoned by ingesting wild onions, and some have died. So, eat them in moderation.
This image was taken with my Sony A7R II using my Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro Lens. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/8, shutter speed at 1/200th of a second and the ISO set at 1600. This is a single image processed in Lightroom.
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© 2016 T. Kahler Photography
Just saw one of these at Steve Schwartzman’s blog. Guess they are growing like “weeds” this time of the year. After a while, the masking effect takes over and one would not smell the onion juices. And if everyone wears it… :-)
Hi Steve! Yes, I saw one on his blog a few days ago. Thy are definitely everywhere! The other day I thought someone was cooking up a storm with garlic. :)