Alliaceae

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Alliaceae

Alliaceae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
of herbaceous perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
flowering plants. They are monocots, part of order

Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
Asparagales

Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
. The family has been widely but not universally recognised; in the past, the plants involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae

Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes....
, and still are by some botanists.

The APG II system

APG II system

A modern list of systems of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in...
of 2003 recognises the family and places it in the order Asparagales

Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
in the clade monocots. APG II allows two options of the circumscription of the family:

Note that quite a few of the plants that were once included in family Alliaceae are assigned to the family Themidaceae

Themidaceae

Themidaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family is recognised by only few taxonomists.The APG II system does not recognize this family as such, but allows it to be segregated from the family Asparagaceae, as an optional segregate....
by both APG and APG II.

The most important genus is Allium
Allium

Allium is the onion genus, with about 1250 species, making it one of the largest plant genera in the world. They are perennial plant bulbous plants that produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste and odor, and many are used as food plants....
, which includes several important food plants, including onion

Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
s (Allium cepa), chives

Chives

Chives are the smallest species of the onion family Alliaceae, native to Europe, Asia and North America. They are referred to only in the plural, because they grow in clumps rather than as individual plants....
(A.

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Encyclopedia

Alliaceae is a family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
of herbaceous perennial
Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
flowering plants. They are monocots, part of order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
Asparagales
Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
. The family has been widely but not universally recognised; in the past, the plants involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae
Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes....
, and still are by some botanists.

The APG II system
APG II system

A modern list of systems of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in...
of 2003 recognises the family and places it in the order Asparagales
Asparagales

Asparagales is an order of flowering plants. The order must include the family Asparagaceae, but other families included in the order have varied markedly between different classifications....
in the clade monocots. APG II allows two options of the circumscription of the family:
Alliaceae sensu lato ("in the wider sense"), including all the plants that were assigned to the families Agapanthaceae
Agapanthaceae

Agapanthaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. The sole included genus, and the one from which the family takes its name, is Agapanthus....
, Alliaceae and Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidaceae

Amaryllidaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Plants in this family may be described as 'amaryllid'. The plants are herbaceous perennial plants that often grow from bulbs, often with showy flowers....
in the 1998 APG
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
.
Alliaceae sensu stricto ("in the strict sense"), unchanged from the 1998 APG system, excluding the plants then forming the families Agapanthaceae and Amaryllidaceae.

Note that quite a few of the plants that were once included in family Alliaceae are assigned to the family Themidaceae
Themidaceae

Themidaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family is recognised by only few taxonomists.The APG II system does not recognize this family as such, but allows it to be segregated from the family Asparagaceae, as an optional segregate....
by both APG and APG II.

The most important genus is Allium
Allium

Allium is the onion genus, with about 1250 species, making it one of the largest plant genera in the world. They are perennial plant bulbous plants that produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste and odor, and many are used as food plants....
, which includes several important food plants, including onion
Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
s (Allium cepa), chives
Chives

Chives are the smallest species of the onion family Alliaceae, native to Europe, Asia and North America. They are referred to only in the plural, because they grow in clumps rather than as individual plants....
(A. schoenoprasum), garlic
Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
(A. sativum and A. scordoprasum), and leeks (A. porrum).

Genera
The following genera are included in the Alliaceae sensu stricto:

Allium
Allium

Allium is the onion genus, with about 1250 species, making it one of the largest plant genera in the world. They are perennial plant bulbous plants that produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste and odor, and many are used as food plants....
Ancrumia
Caloscordum
Erinna
Garaventia
Gethyum
Gilliesia
Ipheion
Ipheion

The genus Ipheion belongs to the Alliaceae family and contains the following species of plant:* Ipheion uniflorum - spring starflower...
Leucocoryne
Leucocoryne

Leucocoryne is a genus of bulbous perennials of the family Alliaceae. There are twelve species, all native to Chile. The foliage of all species is long and narrow and has an onion-like scent....
Miersia
Milula
Muilla
Muilla

The genus Muilla belongs to the Alliaceae family and contains the following species of plants.*Muilla clevelandii - San Diego goldenstar...
Nectaroscordum (Sicilian Honey Lily)
Nothoscordum
Nothoscordum

The genus Nothoscordum belongs to the Alliaceae family and contains the following species of plants.*Nothoscordum bivalve *Nothoscordum inodorum ...
Solaria (genus)
Speea
Trichlora
Tristagma
Tulbaghia
Zoelnerallium

The genera Androstephium
Androstephium

The genus Androstephium belongs to the order Asparagales and contains three species.Species include:*Androstephium breviflorum - pink funnel lily...
, Bessera
Bessera

Bessera is a genus of plants in the Themidaceae family Also placed in: Alliaceae or Liliaceae.A small genus of mostly herbaceous flowering plants with corms, they are Perennial plant native to Mexico; They have flowers with petals and petaloid sepals with compound pistils....
, Bloomeria
Bloomeria

Bloomeria, a geophyte in the Themidaceae, was named for H. G. Bloomer an early San Francisco, California botanist. It consists of three species of California and Baja California:...
, Brodiaea
Brodiaea

The genus Brodiaea belongs to the order Asparagales. Brodiaea occurs in the West Coast of the United States, especially northern California....
, Dandya, Dichelostemma
Dichelostemma

Dichelostemma is a genus of seven species of flowering plants in the order Asparagales. The genus is native to the western United States, especially in northern California, but also east to Utah and north to Oregon and southern Washington....
, Milla
Milla

Milla is a genus of plant belonging to the family Themidaceae and contains the following species of plants.* Milla biflora, Mexican star...
, Petronymphe, Triteleia, and Triteleiopsis are now treated in the family Themidaceae
Themidaceae

Themidaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Such a family is recognised by only few taxonomists.The APG II system does not recognize this family as such, but allows it to be segregated from the family Asparagaceae, as an optional segregate....
.

External links

in Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). . Version 7, May 2006.
[sensu lato] in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards).

[Alliaceae sensu stricto]