Garlic Information

Garlic

Garlic (scientific name Allium sativum) is a species in the onion genus, Allium.

Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive,^[2] and Chinese onion.^[3] With a history of several thousand years of human consumption and use, garlic is native to Central Asia and northeastern Iran, and has long been a common seasoning worldwide.^[1][2] It was known to Ancient Egyptians, and has been used both as a food flavoring and as a traditional medicine

Origin and major types

Allium sativum grows in the wild in areas where it has become naturalized. The "wild garlic", "crow garlic", and "field garlic" of Britain are members of the species Allium ursinum, Allium vineale, and Allium oleraceum, respectively. Identification of the wild progenitor of common garlic is difficult, due to the sterility of its many cultivars which may all be descended from the species Allium longicuspis, which grows wild in central and southwestern Asia.^[7][8][9]

In North America, Allium vineale (known as "wild garlic" or "crow garlic") and Allium canadense, known as "meadow garlic" or "wild garlic" and "wild onion", are common weeds in fields.^[10] So-called elephant garlic is actually a wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum), and not a true garlic. Single clove garlic (also called pearl or solo garlic) originated in the Yunnan province of China.