Delicious discoveries: Scientists just described a new onion species
from the Himalaya

Date:
October 18, 2021
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
While the onion, garlic, scallion, shallot and chives have been on
our plates for centuries, becoming staple foods around the world,
their group, the genus Allium, seems to be a long way from running
out of surprises. Recently, a group of researchers from India
described a new onion species from the western Himalaya region,
long known to the locals as 'jambu' and 'phran.'


FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The genus Allium contains about 1,100 species worldwide, including many
staple foods like onion, garlic, scallion, shallot and chives. Even
though this group of vegetables has been making appearances at family
dinners for centuries, it turns out that it is a long way from running
out of surprises, as a group of researchers from India recently found out.


==========================================================================
In 2019, Dr. Anjula Pandey, Principal Scientist at ICAR-National Bureau
of Plant Genetic Resources in New Delhi, together with scientists,
Drs K Madhav Rai, Pavan Kumar Malav and S Rajkumar, was working on the systematic botany of the genus Allium for the Indian region, when the
team came across plants of what would soon be confirmed as a new species
for science in the open-access journal PhytoKeys.

The plant, called Allium negianum,was discovered in the Indo-Tibetan
border area of Malari village, Niti valley of Chamoli district in
Uttarakhand. It grows at 3000 to 4800 m above sea level and can be found
along open grassy meadows, sandy soils along rivers, and streams forming
in snow pasture lands along alpine meadows (locally known as "bugyal"
or "bugial"), where the melting snow actually helps carry its seeds to
more favourable areas. With a pretty narrow distribution, this newly
described speciesis restricted to the region of western Himalaya and
hasn't yet been reported from anywhere else in the world.

The scientific name Allium negianum honours the late Dr. Kuldeep Singh
Negi, an eminent explorer and Allium collector from India.

Although new to science, this species has long been known under domestic cultivation to local communities. While working on this group, the
research team heard of phran, jambu, sakua, sungdung, and kacho --
different local names for seasoning onions. According to locals, the
one from Niti valley was particularly good, even deemed the best on
the market.

So far only known from the western Himalaya region, Allium negianum might
be under pressure from people looking to taste it: the researchers fear
that indiscriminate harvest of its leaves and bulbs for seasoning may
pose a threat to its wild populations.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Pensoft_Publishers. The original
text of this story is licensed under a Creative_Commons_License. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anjula Pandey, K. Madhav Rai, Pavan Kumar Malav, S. Rajkumar. Allium
negianum (Amaryllidaceae): a new species under subg. Rhizirideum
from Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. PhytoKeys, 2021; 183: 77 DOI:
10.3897/ phytokeys.183.65433 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211018082348.htm

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