The Ownbey Herbarium’s namesake, Marion Ownbey, is most famous for his research on natural hybridization and speciation in the genus Tragopogon (see SOS # 38). But Ownbey had an interest in the genetics and evolution of several other plant genera, including Castilleja (paintbrushes), Calochortus (mariposa lilies), and Allium (onions). Ownbey named at least 15 new species of onions, including 5 in collaboration with Dr. Hannah Aase, a plant anatomist and geneticist also from Washington State University. In 1950, Ownbey named one of his new onion species Allium aaseae in recognition of his colleague.
Hannah Aase was born in South Dakota (when it was still part of ‘Dakota Territory’) in 1883. She was one of the first women to receive a PhD in botany from the University of Chicago, where she studied the anatomical structure of pine cones. Aase was hired by the State College of Washington (as WSU was then known) in 1914, where she remained until her retirement in 1949. Aase was the first woman to be chair of the Botany Department at WSU. Her research interests at WSU included the genetics and cytology of cereal grains and plant morphology. Aase was the first person granted emeritus status at WSU and remained affiliated with the university until her death in 1980.
Aase’s onion (also known as South Idaho onion) is a narrow endemic of lacustrine soils in and near Boise, Idaho. It is one of 27 species in the Allium falcifolium alliance recognized by Ownbey, which includes several other narrow western endemics. Allium aaseae can be recognized by its pair of channeled leaves that often lie flat on the ground and its short stalked-umbel of deep pink flowers with finely toothed tepals and yellow anthers. It is considered a rare species in Idaho, where populations are threatened by urban sprawl, sand mining, competition with introduced annuals, and habitat fragmentation. – Walter Fertig 21 March 2026
Image: Holotype of Allium aaseae WS000108
Image: Hannah Aase (front row, far left) in a group photo of the WSU Botany Department in 1950, shortly after her retirement. Other notable botanists include Marion Ownbey (back row, far left), Rex Daubenmire (to Ownbey’s right), Arthur Cronquist (back row center), and Noe Higinbotham (front row, far right).