Plant Encyclopedia
Allium cepa (onion, "Tamanegi")
Japanese name: タマネギ （玉葱）
Scientific name: Allium cepa
[Overview]
A bulbous perennial treated as an annual or biennial.
A bulb forms underground and is used as a vegetable.
The leaves are tubular and hollow with pointed tips, and the surface is covered with wax.
The leaf sheaths are cylindrical and swell into a round bulb.
Many flowers form a ball at the tip of the flower stalk.
There are pungent and sweet varieties, and the pungent type is the one mainly sold in Japan.
[Cultivation]
Watch for downy mildew and black spot.
Pests include onion flies, onion thrips and leek moths.
Details
Names
English: onion
Japanese: タマネギ（玉葱）
Japanese: タマネギ（玉葱）
Life form
Perennial
Habit
Terrestrial
Planting (or sowing) season
November, December
Flowering season
May, June
Distribution or origin
Said to be native to the mountainous regions of Central Asia
Leaf shape
Linear
Leaf arrangement
Basal
Leaf margin
Entire
Inflorescence
Umbel
Number of petals
6
Flower color
White
Leaf color
Green
Availability of seeds and plants
Low
Form sold
Seedlings, Bulbs
Sun exposure
Full sun
Soil needs
Required
Suitable uses
Flower bed, Container
Diseases
Rust, Downy mildew, Black spot, Soft rot
Pests
Aphids, Leafminer flies, Onion thrips, Onion maggots, Armyworms, Leek moths, Cutworms
Edible parts
Bulb
Uses
Edible
Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.