[Image description: a perfectly round peeled bulb of garlic on a cutting board, with unpeeled normal cloves behind it.]
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
616 points (98.6% liked)
Mildly Interesting
17346 readers
296 users here now
This is for strictly mildly interesting material. If it's too interesting, it doesn't belong. If it's not interesting, it doesn't belong.
This is obviously an objective criteria, so the mods are always right. Or maybe mildly right? Ahh.. what do we know?
Just post some stuff and don't spam.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Garlic, onions, chives, and leeks (plus shallots, spring onions / scallions, and ramsons) are actually very closely related, being part of the same allium genus. ~~That's the same level of closeness as dogs to wolves, for example~~ my example is bad, see AlotOfReading below
Dogs and wolves are the same species (Canis Lupus), not just members of the same genus. Genus Allium is much bigger than genus Canis (over 800 species) and its members are much less closely related to each other. The common food species are at least evolutionary cousins though, unlike other parts of the category. The onions and chives all share subgenus Cepa, while garlic and leeks are off in subgenus Allium.
Ahh, I think I was misled by reading Canis familiaris. Thanks for the correction
Very interesting, I did not know that!