EPPO Global Database

• EPPO Code: ALLCE
• Preferred name: Allium cepa
• Authority: Linnaeus

Possibly of Central Asian origin. Widely cultivated in Europe and Asia as a food and flavouring plant since ancient times, in numerous cultivated forms, and more recently worldwide. Occurs as an escape from cultivation 

One type of cultivated onion, known as shallot, was previously considered as a separate species A. ascalonicum. Shallots are now considered to belong among the Aggregatum types (q.v.) of A. cepa