Texas Witchery

Wild Onion / Ajo Salvaje

Allium drummondii

If you have ever smelled the aerial parts of this ubiquitous roadside wildflower, you may have noticed a familiar kitchen smell– yes, this is a relative of our culinary onions! If you pull up this plant, you will find a brown to white bulb underground which may be used any way similar to the much larger culinary onion. Its mild flavour adds a wonderful seasoning to meats and makes it a great candidate for pickling (here’s a nice recipe!).

The Cheyenne, Lakota, and Navajo all used this wild onion in cooking to give meat flavour. Other wild onions have been used as a poultice for carbuncles, as a tincture to prevent worms and colic in children, rubbed on the body for insect repellent and protection from snakebite, in a sweetened syrup taken for colds, and placed on the ear to draw out earache. Including onions– whether wild or cultivated– in the diet can help lower blood clotting risks (so watch your intake if you take blood thinners like warfarin or aspirin!), lower cholesterol levels, and reduce inflammation. Antioxidant activities of flavonoids found in onions can inhibit cancer cell proliferation and decrease tumour initiation. A poultice of onion, which I shall describe in a later post, can help relieve a stubborn cough when placed on the chest.

Magically, onions provide a great deal of protection from evil. An onion pricked with black-headed pins, or a string of dried onions, makes a great protective amulet to place by a window or door to keep out evil influence. An onion half may be used much like an egg in limpia, being rubbed upon a person’s body to draw out illness and negativity. Burning the outer skins of onions drives away the evil eye and attracts prosperity to the burner. 

I associate the wild onion with the astrological sign Taurus, the goddess Hecate, the Sun, and the element Earth.