ABSTRACT
Onion, garlic, and leek, all varieties of common vegetables, are used as food or spices in most countries of the world. In early classifications of angiosperms, Allium and related genera were placed in the Liliaceae family. In the more recent and competent taxonomic treatment of the monocotyledons, they are recognized as the distinct family Alliaceae close to the Amaryllidaceae (Dahlgren et al., 1985). Allium is a large genus, probably of more than 500 species, which are perennial, mostly bulbous plants. This genus is widely distributed over the warm temperate zones of the northern hemisphere.
