Fragrant False Garlic
Nothoscordum gracile
Found in disturbed areas, lawns. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 47%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet

At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 13 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
17CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Allium
- Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Ascia monusteGreat Southern White
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
Show all 17
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Nothoscordum
- Andrena nothoscordi
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Allium
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Alliaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
onion
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

