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Shallot

Allium ascalonicum

Also called Wild onion

Shallot
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Charles P. assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain

Shallot (Allium ascalonicum, now treated as a cultivar group of the common onion) forms clusters of bulbs with multiple cloves, grown mainly for culinary use. Plant offsets in autumn or early spring in full sun and keep the bulb tops just above the soil.

Family
Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil & onion family)
Grows as
Bulb
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly during active growth, then reduce as the bulbs mature in summer.
Soil
Well-drained, fertile soil; avoid freshly manured ground.
Temperature
10-25 °C; hardy to moderate frost.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
E. Medit. to Arabian Pen.
Climate
subtropical

About

The shallot ( or ) is a cultivar group of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, Allium ascalonicum. The taxon was synonymized with Allium cepa (the common onion) in 2010, as the difference was too small to justify a separate species.

As part of the onion genus Allium, its close relatives include garlic, scallions, leeks, chives, and the Chinese onion.

Uses

A raw shallot contains 80% water, 17% carbohydrates, 2.5% protein and a negligible amount of fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), raw shallot supplies 72 calories and is a rich source of vitamin B6 (20% of the Daily Value, DV), while providing moderate amounts of manganese (13% DV) and potassium (11% DV). No other micronutrients occur in significant amounts (below 10% DV, table).

Other Allium plants

South Idaho onion · Abrams' allium · Allium aciphyllum · Tapertip onion · Allium aeginiense · Allium aflatunense · Allium agrigentinum · Allium alabasicum · Allium albotunicatum · Allium alibile · Altai Onion · Allium altissimum

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Shallot by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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