ASPHODELEiE. 209 



feet high, bearing alternate white flowers, with radical and sessile 

 leaves, long and smooth ; flowers white, and in a spike ; sandy 

 woods ; July. The root is very bitter, and in small quantities 

 used as a tonic and stomachic. See Bigelow's " Medical 

 Botany." 



Allium. L. 6. 1. 



From the Celtic for hot or burning ; a large genus, as more 

 than 60 species have been described, chiefly indigenous to Europe 

 and the adjoining countries ; a (ew belong to the United States, 

 and 2 to Massachusetts. 



Corolla 6-parted, spreading ; spathe many-flowered ; umbel 



crowded ; capsule superior, 3-celled, 3-valved. 



t 



A. Canadense. L. INIeadow or Wild Onion. Bears bulbs 

 like the common onion, witii flowers terminating a leafless scape 

 nearly 2 feet high, and leaves linear, and nearly radical ; wet 

 meadows ; May. 



.5. tricoccum. Ait. Wild Leek. Grows in woods, on hills, 

 and in valleys, with a round scape a foot high, and oblong, flat, 

 and smooth leaves ; June. This is often eaten by cattle in the 

 spring, and the milk of cows is made redolent with its strong and 

 offensive odor. 



^. cepa. L. Onion. From the Celtic for head, probably 

 from its form of flowers ; too important not to be noticed, and 

 too well known to need more than a notice ; indigenous to Hun- 

 gary. The varieties, which have white, yellow, and red bulbs, 

 are common in gardens ; the roots contain free phosphoric 

 acid. 



t)3. Jlscalonicum. L. Shallot. Leaves subulate, a native of 

 Palestine, near Ascalon. 



.5. sativum. L. Gai'lic. From Sicily, flat-leafed. 



A. porrum. L. Leek. From the Celtic to eat, with leaves 



27 



