ALLIACEAE

family of flowering plants in the order Liliales, with about 30 genera and more than 670 species, distributed throughout most regions of the world, except for the tropics, Australia, and New Zealand. Members of the family have corms, bulbs, or underground stems; most have long, thin leaves and clusters of varying numbers of flowers. The genus Allium contains the common onion (A. cepa), wild onion (A. cernuum), garlic (A. sativum), wild garlic (A. ursinum), leek (A. porrum; see ), chives (A. schoenoprasum), and shallot (A. ascallonicum). Many other onion- or garlic-scented species are cultivated as ornamental border plants, such as A. moly, A. carinatum, and A. pulchellum of Europe, as well as A. stellatum and A. textile of North America. Plants of the genus Agapanthus are fast-growing ornamental pot plants with tuberous roots and tall clusters of blue flowers. African lily, or lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus), has many varieties, some with white or purple flowers and others with patterned leaves. Similar plants of the genus Tulbaghia also are popular ornamentals. Tulbaghia violacea has a thick stem, garlic-scented leaves, and urn-shaped purple flowers. Ornamental species of the genus Brodiaea, known as triplet lilies, have narrow, grasslike leaves and funnel-shaped flowers, usually purple or blue. Spring starflower (B. uniflora) is the most commonly cultivated species.