Flowering Onion

Allium is a monocot genus of flowering plants, informally referred to as the onion genus. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic.
The genus contains hundreds of distinct species; many have been harvested throughout human history, but only about a dozen are still economically important today as crops or garden vegetables. These include onions (A. cepa), shallots (A. cepa var. aggregatum), French shallot (A. oschaninii), leeks (A. ampeloprasum), scallions (various Allium species), and herbs such as garlic (A. sativum) and chives (A. schoenoprasum). Others are cultivated as ornamentals.