ABSTRACT
Members of the genus Allium were so important to Old World people that each language had a name for each of the species. In English, for example, there are chives (A. schoenoprasum), garlic (A. sativum), leeks (A. porrum), onions (A. cepa), ramsons (A. ursinum), scallions (A. cepa), and shallots (A. ascalonicum). A similar list could be made in the Romance and other Germanic languages. Gaelic, the most distinct of the western European languages, called them saidse (chives), gairleag (garlic), leigis (leeks), uinnean (onion), gairgean (ramsons), and siobaid (scallions). If they have a name for shallots, it has not been located.
