ABSTRACT
The taxonomic position of Allium and related genera is still a matter of controversy. In early classifications of the angiosperms they were placed in the Liliaceae, some British and American botanists, e.g., Hutchinson and Traub, have included them in the Amaryllidaceae, on the basis of inflorescence structure. However, the other classifications still have their proponents, and they are still used in some literature. There is more agreement about the delimitation of the genus Allium itself. It is a large genus, probably of more than 500 species, which are perennial, mostly bulbous plants. The genus Allium is widely distributed over the warm-temperate and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere, and it occurs in the boreal zone. Plant breeding will benefit from such efforts in future. Taxonomic work, even on the more theoretical problems, like infrageneric classification of Allium, has relevance to applied botany and to breeding.
