Allium

Allium, a genus of Liliaceæ (q.v.), containing about 150 species. These are perennial, or more rarely biennial, herbaceous plants, usually producing tunicated bulbs by their thickened and concentric leaf bases, and are natives chiefly of the temperate and colder regions of the northern hemisphere. Garlic, Onion, Leek, Shallot, Chive, and Rocambole (q.v.) are species of this genus in common cultivation. A number of other species are occasionally used on account of their characteristic nutritive and flavouring qualities in different countries. Nine species are natives of Britain, of which the most common is Allium ursinum, Ramsons or Wood-garlic, a species with much broader leaves than most of its congeners. It is most frequently found in moist woods and hedge-banks; but occasionally in pastures, in which it proves a troublesome weed, communicating its powerful odour of garlic to the whole dairy produce. Crow Garlic (Allium vineale), another British species, is occasionally troublesome in the same way, in drier pastures. Both are perennial, and to get rid of them their bulbs must be perseveringly rooted out when the leaves begin to appear in spring.