Explained: What is Allium negianum?

What is the News?

A team of researchers has discovered a new species of the genus Allium named “Allium negianum” from the Uttarakhand Himalayan region of India.

What is Allium?

Allium is one of the largest genera in Amaryllidaceae, a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants.

The genus has about 1,100 species distributed worldwide, including onion, garlic, scallion, shallot and chives.

The genus naturally occurs in dry seasons in the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa.

What about Allium in India?

The Indian Allium is distributed in different eco-geographical areas of the temperate and alpine regions of the Himalayas.

The Indian Himalayan region has two distinct centers of Allium diversity, the Western Himalaya (over 85% of total diversity) and the Eastern Himalaya (6%), covering the alpine-sub temperate region.

Where is the newly discovered Allium negianum found?

The specific name of Allium negianum honors Dr. Kuldeep Singh Negi, an eminent explorer and Allium collector from India

This plant is restricted to the region of the Western Himalayas. It grows in Malari region of Niti valley in Chamoli district and Dharma valley of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.

It grows at 3,000 to 4,800 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.

Source: This post is based on the article “Explained: What is Allium negianum?” published in Indian Express on 18th October 2021.