15 



ONION.— ALLIUM. 



Natural order, Spathacece. A genus of the 

 Hexandria Monogynia class. 



The Greeks called this coated bulb 

 KglfjLfjLvov, and Kgifesuw, according to the poets, 

 dwo tv /uLveiv tccs no ga$, because the ancients 

 shut their eyes when they ate them, to pre- 

 vent the painful watering which they cause 

 to these susceptible organs. 



In Latin it was named Cepa and Cepe, 

 from caput, as is supposed from the large- 

 ness of the head. It was also called Unio, 

 being a single root, without offsets, which 

 most other bulbs have ; and from this word 

 the English name appears to have been 

 derived. 



The common onion, Cepa, owes its chief 

 qualities to cultivation. Pliny, who men- 

 tions all the countries from whence the 

 Greeks, as well as the Romans, procured 



