ABSTRACT
Nodding onion is a perennial, onion-smelling herb made up of a rosette of grass-like, slim, elongated leaves arising near the ground from a slender, conical, grayish or brownish bulb covered with a membranous layer. Raw, cooked, and dried nodding onion bulbs were widely consumed by North American indigenous people and European settlers. The edible bulb has a strong onion taste and is often used raw to add taste to prepared foods, especially salads. The edible flowers are strong-tasting and also make a good addition to salads. Nodding onion has not been domesticated, is not yet significantly cultivated for food, and faces considerable established competition in the marketplace. There are numerous commercial Allium species and hundreds of species of the genus around the world with edible potential. Because the genus Allium is so important commercially, there are numerous researchers with expertise on its species and a considerable body of knowledge already available that can facilitate development of nodding onion.
