Bureaucrat, administrator, widgeteditor
146,870
edits
Changes
→Allium sativum
''Allium sativum'' Linn. CLOWN'S TREACLE. GARLIC.
Europe. This plant, well known to the ancients, appears to be native to the plains of western Tartary and at a very early period was transported thence over the whole of Asia (excepting Japan), north Africa and Europe. It is believed to be the ''skorodon hemeron '' of Dioscorides and the ''allium '' of Pliny. It was ranked by the Egyptians among gods in taking an oath, according to Pliny. The want of garlics was lamented to Moses by the Israelites in the wilderness. Homer makes garlic a part of the entertainment which Nestor served to his guest, Machaon. The Romans are said to have disliked it on account of the strong scent but fed it to their laborers to strengthen them and to their soldiers to excite courage. It was in use in England prior to 1548 and both Turner and Tusser notice it. Garlic is said to have been introduced in China 140-86 B. C. and to be found noticed in various Chinese treatises of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Loureiro found it under cultivation in Cochin China.
The first mention of garlic in America is by Peter Martyr, who states that Cortez fed on it in Mexico. In Peru, Acosta says "the Indians esteem garlike above all the roots of Europe." It was cultivated by the Choctaw Indians in gardens before 1775 and is mentioned among garden esculents by American writers on gardening in 1806 and since. The plant has the well-known alliaceous odor which is strongly penetrating, especially at midday. It is not as much used by northern people as by those of the south of Europe. In many parts of Europe, the peasantry eat their brown bread with slices of garlic which imparts a flavor agreeable to them. In seed catalogs, the sets are listed while seed is rarely offered. There are two varieties, the common and the pink.