ALIITYM, a genus of plants of the natural order liliaceo3 (q.v.) containing a large number of species, perennial—more rarely biennial—herbaceous plants, more or less decidedly bulbous-rooted, natives chiefly of the temperate and colder regions of the northern hemisphere. The flowers are umbellate, inclosed in a spathe, and the umbel often bears also small bulbs along with its flowers. The perianth is of six-spreading pieces, resembling petals, having the stamens inserted in their base. The fruit is a tri angular capsule, and the seeds are angular. The leaves are generally narrow, although in some species, as A. uninum, they are rather broad, and in a considerable number they are rounded and fistulose. GARLIC (q.v.), ONION (q.v.), LEEK (q.v.), SHALLOT (q.v.), CHIVE (q.v.), and ROCAMBOLE (q.v.) are species of this genus in common cultivation. The first four are cultivated in the gardens of India as well as of Europe, along with A. tuberosum ; and the hill-people of India eat the bulbs of A. kptophyllum, and dry
the leaves, and preserve them as a condiment. A number of other species are occa sionally used in different countries.—Eight or nine species are natives of Britain, of which the most common is RAMSONS (A. ursinum), a species with much broader leaves than most of its congeners. It is most frequently found in moist woods and hedge banks ; but occasionally in pastures, in which it proves a troublesome weed, communi cating its powerful odor of garlic to the whole dairy produce. Crow garlic (A.vineale), another British species, is sometimes very troublesome in the same way, in drier pastures. Both are perennial, and to get rid of them their bulbs must be perseveringly rooted out, when the leaves begin to appear in spring.