These are clearly a topset onion. IMHO neither Catawassa nor Egyptian. They look very like some topset pearl onions I have. Mine are not far enough along yet to directly compare them.
Does the in ground bulb always divide into two or sometimes also three?

"Does the in ground bulb always divide into two or sometimes also three?"

Some of them are divided that way.

Richlyn71
You have one of several varations of wild/morelikely gone wild pearl onions. I have two, one looks just like yours except shorter leaves. Even has a second layer of bubils and the white flower is exactly the same as yours. This one was found in Texas by a very nice lady who shared some with me. First year growing it.
I have another that is somewhat larger shared by another of the exceptionally nice people at GW. 2nd year.
I have another which has bulbs in the ground which are 3/4" to 1" in dia. These divide up to 4 bulbs in the ground but topsets are a creamy greenish. This was just called Pearl onion. Also 2nd year.
Perhaps Martin or Brook can add to this.

Intersting. I do have 2 other (wild) onions growing that I don't know where they came from. They are small and one has a white bloom and the other has an lavander bloom. They both have small topsets as well. There are thousands of them in different places in the yard (6 acres).
So do you think they have all crossed at one point?

Every topsetter that I have and have seen pictured, blooms and then produces the topsets. I have not seen any vary from when I first planted them. So, what is the purpose of the flower? Do they once in a rare while produce seed or do they produce crossed bubils??
Twice I have had a regular yellow onion bloom and flower and produce both seeds and two and three bubils. Throw back or throw forward?
"So do you think they have all crossed at one point?"
Beats me. If so, it may have been long ago, or not!
Are your wild ones edible or quite strong? My neighbor has small clumps of onions spreading out of his lawn. When mown, they smell strongly of onion, but are smaller than chives.

"Are your wild ones edible or quite strong? My neighbor has small clumps of onions spreading out of his lawn. When mown, they smell strongly of onion, but are smaller than chives."

Yes, You described my wild ones. I have not tried to eat them as they are small and are very strong smelling. These would take over the lawn if I didn't keep them mowed.

IMO, your pictures are of two different species. The first photos are obviously top-setting onions, maybe catawissa due to the massive secondary sprouting of the top-sets.

The other plants on the hood of the truck are flat-leaved with no top-sets. In the garlic family, I would think.

My walking onions have very purplish stems, FWIW.

pnbrown, these pictures are all of the same plant. I took pics and then dug them up and took more pics. They didn't grow quite as well as they normally do because they got mowed down not too long ago, so they came back up shorter and the topsets are not as big as they usually are. I will try to find some pics of them that were taken last year.

I would like to find out when the best time to plant these and actually plant them in the garden rows. I have two rows left I can plant that are 150' long.

Yes, I see now that your first pics have a lot of flat leaves amidst.

I'm a bit boggled. A flat-leaved onion? Garlic will make little top-sets, however, so I still maintain that this isn't an onion, persay.

And what I don't know would make a fairly comprehensive allium treatise, apparently.

I second Coho's opinion that they are neither Catawissas nor true Egyptians. And those last 2 words are the problem, "true Egyptians". That particular type of tree onion has been around for centuries and nobody can even begin to guess at how many variations there are.

Supposedly the true Egyptian has a red bulb, not white. I have those from 2 separate sources and they are not identical. None are growing as depicted in the photos above. In fact, my Egyptians resemble an ordinary onion more than Catawissas or other multipliers.

To top it off, a local friend also had Egyptians at the local farmers market this past Saturday and not a hint of red on a single one of them. And yet, the topsets are just as red as mine.

Also, although Egyptians will sometimes have a Medusa bulbil cluster similar to several above photos, I've never seen any that extreme.

Bottom line is that it can probably only be called a tree onion, exact name and origin unknown.

Martin

richlyn,
In your zone, you can plant them just about any time you like. I spent a lot of time searching last night and found two "wild onion plants' with pix One had pink blooms with flat V leaves and one with white blooms and that all I could make out.
Your top sets are much more red than either of mine are. All have the flat V leaves at the base of plant. And, my pet gopher really likes them.

Here is a link that might be useful: wild onion plant info.

These are my walking onions, as comparison. I'm fairly certain they are Catawissa, although I found them rather than bought them, so can't be sure.

{{gwi:363415}}

{{gwi:363416}}

{{gwi:363417}}

PA,
Do those bubils turn a redish brown or will they be a lite greenish white? Looks like some bibils have shoots with a second layer of bubils. Your plants are much more upright than mine here in the heat. As I remember, mine were more upright for the first two years.

Reddish-brown.

Those primitive flowers never bloom or form seed (so far).

BTW, I'm still trying to effectively grow out those heritage whites you sent me. I had them in an overly shady area until this year - hoping to get some larger plants and topsets. The flavor of the basal bulbs is really outstanding.

I have a bunch of Martin's Catawissa's, and a few Pearl Onions going too, both with crazy topsets. The Catawissa bulbils are larger - and taste really spicy. I've been eating all the round Catawissa leaves that haven't formed heads.

A couple questions - Do you prefer to eat the tops, let them flop, or do you cut and replant the topsets? Also, what is the optimum timing? I assume you separate all the little cloves first? (Dave's Garden says sow asap, as seed does not store well) Could I do this now, while we still have a cool, moist Spring going in the NW?

Thanx.

100 or so years ago, the idea of planting the onions was to eat as many as possible while keeping a few for planting back. Even in my memory, cooking onions didn't have to be bulbs. If you could get by with having the green color, you used the tops. If the color were particular, you used the bottom half. I doubt if many gardeners then would ever have some massive tangles that we "collectors" create! Even then, I do think that every stand of walking onions should be cleared out every second or third year so that the soil can be enriched and bulbs started back again with proper spacing.

Dave's Garden info is right and wrong. If it's just the actual Catawissa bulbs involved, it is correct to plant them back ASAP since they will not go into a long dormant stage. They will want to grow right away. The topset bulbils are quite the opposite in that they will store for a long time and can dry down to almost nothing and quickly come to life.

This information DOES NOT apply to Heritage Sweet walking onions. Their topsets will not store very long. Only their largest seem to be able to last more than a few months and then rapidly go downhill from there.

Martin