ALLIUM SATIVUM.— COMMON GALLIC. 
Class VI. HEXANDRIA. Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, ASPHQDELE/E.— THE ASPHODEL TRIBE. 
Fig. («) represents a flower ; (6) the bulb ; (c) a subordinate bulb, or clove. 
The common or cultivated Garlic is a hardy, perennial bulbiferous plant, growing naturally in Sicily and 
the south of France; flowering in July, and has been cultivated in this country since 1548. It shows the 
same propensity to form bulbs instead of flowers as the A. Scorodoprasum, or Rocambole Garlic, which it 
also resembles in other respects. 
The bulbs are composed of several oblong, subordinate bulbs, called cloves, of a pale colour internally, 
frequently tinged with purple on the outside, and enclosed in a common membrane, from the base of which 
proceed long white fibrous roots. Each clove being planted, grows, and in one season attains the size and 
structure of the parent bulb. The stem is simple, erect, solid, and rises about two feet in height, surrounded 
with many long, flat, linear, pointed leaves, of a yellowish green colour ; and is terminated by a dense 
umbel, inclosed in a spathe containing both flowers and bulbs, which opens at one side and withers. The 
flowers are small and white, the perianth consists of six oblong petals, with tapering alternately 3-cleft fila- 
ments, shorter than the corolla, and supporting oblong, erect anthers : the germen is superior, short, an- 
gular, bearing a simple style, with a pointed stigma ; the capsule is short, broad, 3-lobed and 3-celled, con- 
taining a few roundish, angular seeds. 
This plant is the Sko/njSov of the Greeks, and is said to have been called iKopolov, quasi a-Kopm polov, rudis 
rosa, on account of its offensive odour. Amongst the Greeks, garlic was held in such abhorrence, that those 
who partook of it were regarded as profane. The Egyptians, however, worshipped it; and the Romans 
gave it to their labourers to impart strength, and to their soldiers to excite courage; their game cocks were 
also fed with garlic previous to fighting. From the following lines of Persius, it appears that it was some- 
times offered to propitiate the Gods: — 
“ Hinc grandes Galli, et cum Sistro lusca sacerdos, 
Incussere Deos inflantes corpora, si non 
Prasdictum, ter mane, caput gustaveris Alii.” 
Let this be as it may, Horace, having supped with Maecenas, found himself very ill, in consequence of 
partaking of a dish of herbs in which garlic had been put, and upon this writes an ode to his friend, in 
which he condemns it in no measured terms. 
Notwithstanding the denunciations of Horace, Olerius states that garlic was much used in his time by 
nobles and courtiers ; and Haller avers that the inhabitants of all countries are very fond of it. It appears, 
from Tusser, to have been cultivated in the time of Queen Mary; who says in his twelfth verse for No- 
vember — 
“ Set garlicke and beans at St. Edmund the king.” 
Garlic is now usually propagated by detaching the cloves, and planting them in February or March ; 
and in this way it seldom throws up a flower-stem. The soil should be light and dry ; the sets are placed 
about four inches asunder, and between two and three inches deep. About the middle of June the leaves 
are tied in knots, to prevent the stronger plants from spindling or running to flower, and to promote the 
swelling of the bulbs. The crop is dug up in autumn, when the leaves begin to wither ; the bulbs are then 
cleaned, tied in bunches, and hung in a dry room for use. 
Besides the common garlic, the following species are frequently cultivated in our gardens for culinary 
and other domestic purposes. 
1. Allium Schcenoprasum. The Cive, or Chive Garlic, is a small plant, with a naked stalk seldom 
exceeding five or six inches in height; cylindrical, hollow, somewhat tapering leaves, and simple stamens. 
It is a native of Britain, growing in meadows and pastures, but is not common ; it occurs, according to Mr. 
Neill, among other places, in the south of Scotland, on low hills near Hawick ; and also in some parts of 
Westmoreland; it is figured in “English Botany/’ v. 34, t. 2441. The bulbs are very small and flat, and 
grow connected together in clusters. The young leaves are employed principally for soups, and as a salad 
ingredient, in the spring. Sometimes they are added as a seasoning to omelets ; and they are often eaten 
with bread and butter. 
