ALLIUM CEPA. 



5 



ALLIUM CEPA, Willd, 



£Vide Plate LXV.] 



Common onion ; piyaz, piaz, piyaj (Hind.) ; palandu (Sans.) ; basl (Arab.) ; ganthi, gan- 

 dhana (bulbs) ; al (green stalks). 



Natural order Liliacece. 



This well-known plant has been cultivated as a vegetable from very ancient times. 

 It is found wild in Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and may be indigenous also in Pales- 

 tine (De Candolle). It was cultivated in Egypt in the time of Moses ; and Herodotus 

 relates that in his time (B.C. 413) there was an inscription on the great pyramid, stating 

 that a sum amounting to 1,600 talents (= about £428,800) had been paid for onions 

 and garlic which had been supplied to the workmen during its erection (Smith, Econ. 

 Diet.) 



The onion is cultivated as a cold weather crop all over the Provinces, and is eaten 

 largely either raw or cooked by all classes of natives, except by high-caste Hindus, 

 who fancy they see in it a resemblance to the inner portion of a bull's navel. It is 

 usually cooked as an ingredient of curry, and is also pickled. 



Two acclimatized varieties are commonly grown in native gardens, the white and 

 the red. The seed is sown in September and October at the rate of one seer per acre. 

 Onion seed loses its vitality within a year, hence imported seed often fails to germinate. 

 Onions are sold in the bazar at 10 annas to one rupee a maund. 



The medicinal properties of the onion are well-known to natives. When cholera 

 is prevalent, they often carry about with them pieces of onion, or hang them up at 

 the doorways of their houses as a disinfectant. 



Onions are occasionally given as food to milch cows and buffalos. 



Explanation of Plate LXV. 



1 . Upper portion of scape bearing the flowers. 



2. Young head of flowers partially enclosed in 



spathe-like bract. 



3. A single stamen. 



4. Vertical section of flower. 



5. Flower seen from below. 



* References :— Roxb., Fl. Ind. (Clarke's Ed.), 287 ; Watt. Diet. Econom. Prod., I., 169 ; Royle, 111. Him. Bot.. 392 ; 

 Stewart, Punj. PL, 230 ; Atkinson, Him. Dist., I., 703, 726 ; DC, L'Orig. PI. Cult., 52. 



