PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR SUBTERRANEAN PARTS. 71 



He attributes to A. ascalonicum Allium sulvia, Ham., 

 of Nepal, a plant little known, and whose wild character 

 is uncertain. The shallot produces many bulbs, which 

 may be propagated or preserved in the neighbourhood 

 of cultivation, and thus cause mistakes as to its origin. 



Finally, in spite of the progress of botanical investiga- 

 tions in the East and in India, this form of Allium has 

 not been found wild with certainty. It appears to me, 

 therefore, more probable than ever that it is a modifica- 

 tion of A. Cepa, dating from about the beginning of the 

 Christian era — a modification less considerable than many 

 of those observed in other cultivated plants, as, for 

 instance, in the cabbage. 



Rocambole — Allium scorodoprasum, Linnaeus. 



If we cast a glance at the descriptions and names 

 of A. scorodoprasum, in works on botany since the 

 time of Linnaeus, we shall see that the only point on 

 which authors are agreed is the common name of rocam- 

 bole. As to the distinctive characters, they sometimes 

 approximate the plant to Allium sativum, sometimes 

 regard it as altogether distinct. With such difierent 

 definitions, it is difiicult to know in what country the 

 plant, well known in its cultivated state as the rocambole, 

 is found wild. According to Cosson and Germain,^ it 

 grows in the environs of Paris. According to Grenier 

 and Godron,^ the same form grows in the east of France. 

 Burnat says he found the species undoubtedly wild in 

 the Alpes-Mari times, and he gave specimens of it to 

 Boissier. Willkomm and Lange do not consider it to be 

 wild in Spain,^ though one of the French names of the 

 cultivated plant is ail or eschalote d'Espagne. Many 

 other European localities seem to me doubtful, since the 

 specific characters are so uncertain. I mention, however, 

 that, according to Ledebour,* the plant which he calls 

 A. scorodoprasum is very common in Russia from Fin- 

 land to the Crimea. Boissier received a specimen of it 



' Cosson and Germain, Flore, ii. p. 553. 



• Grenier and Godron, Flore de France, iii. p. 197. 



• Willkomm and Lange, Prodr. Fl. Hisp., i. p. SSS, 



• Ledebour, Flora Rossica, ir. p. 163. 

 6 



