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Bulbous plant of the Amaryllidaceae family, native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, naturalized in North America and Australia, where it is considered a weed of crops. In Europe, it is common in vineyards, dry lawns, roadsides, and poor meadows, on well-drained and often calcareous soils.
It produces slender stems of 30-80 cm bearing in June-July an original umbel, often composed mainly — or even exclusively — of green or reddish aerial bulbils, accompanied by a few rare pink to purple flowers, or completely devoid of flowers. This tendency for vegetative reproduction by aerial bulbils is one of its most distinctive features and also explains its great dispersal capacity.
A discreet wild plant, rarely intentionally cultivated, it is of more interest to the botanist and the enthusiast of spontaneous flora than to the gardener. However, it can find its place in a natural-style garden or in a dry meadow, where its slender silhouettes and characteristic bulbils have a certain botanical appeal.