Wild onion and wild garlic are both winter perennials. The leaves are waxy, upright and needle shaped growing 8-12 inches long. The leaves of wild garlic are hollow and round and have a strong odor. The leaves of wild onion are solid and flat and appear directly from the bulb. Both plants grow from underground bulbs. The membrane-coated bulbs of wild garlic are flattened on one side and have bulblets. Wild onion bulbs are white inside with a strong odor and are covered with a fibrous, scaly coat.

The white to light green flowers of wild garlic develop on short stems above aerial bulbs. Wild onion does not have a stem; white to pink flowers with six eliptical segments. Both wild onion and wild garlic spread by bulbs, seed and bulblets. Both plants flower from April through June.

Both wild onion and wild garlic are distributed throughout the United States.