Taxon: Allium cepa L. var. cepa (Allium cepa Common Onion Group)

Summary

Genus:

Allium

Subgenus:

Cepa

Section:

Cepa

Family:

Amaryllidaceae

Subfamily:

Allioideae

Tribe:

Allieae

Nomen number:

409114

Comment:

or Allium cepa Common Onion Group

Verified:

07/09/1997 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

122 (96 active, 57 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Allium cepa L. (1016 active accession[s])
Allium cepa L. var. aggregatum G. Don (2 active accession[s])

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Brewster, J. L. 1994. Onions and other vegetable alliums. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. Note: Chapter 1 refers to cultivated onion into two horticultural groups, the Common Onion group and the Agreggatum group accepting Hanelt's 1990 (IN: H. D. Rabinowitch & J. L. Brewster, Onions and Allied crops) concepts
Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage Note: = Allium cepa Cepa Group
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
Fritsch, R. M. & N. Friesen. 2002. Chapter 1. Evolution, domestication and taxonomy. In: Rabinowitch, H. D. & L. Currah, eds., Allium crop science: recent advances 5-30. Note: recognizes for Allium cepa three crop groups: Common onion group, Ever-ready onions and Aggregatum group; cites A. cepa ssp. cepa var. cepa as a name in the literature
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Messiaen, C.-M. et al. 1993. Les Allium alimentaires reproduits par voie végétative. 1-230.
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
Wako, T. et al. 2015. Screening and incorporation of rust resistance from Allium cepa into bunching onion Allium fistulosum via alien chromosome addition. Genome DOI: 10.1139/gen-2015-0026.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	bulb onion			1	Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
English	common onion			1	Brewster, J. L. 1994. Onions and other vegetable alliums. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. Note: Chapter 1 refers to cultivated onion into two horticultural groups, the Common Onion group and the Agreggatum group accepting Hanelt's 1990 (IN: H. D. Rabinowitch & J. L. Brewster, Onions and Allied crops) concepts
English	onion			1	Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. 1999. World economic plants: a standard reference CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
English	Spanish onion			1	Brewster, J. L. 1994. Onions and other vegetable alliums. Crop Prod. Sci. Hort. Note: Chapter 1 refers to cultivated onion into two horticultural groups, the Common Onion group and the Agreggatum group accepting Hanelt's 1990 (IN: H. D. Rabinowitch & J. L. Brewster, Onions and Allied crops) concepts
English	spring onion			1	Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
Chinese	yang cong	洋葱		2	Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
French	oignon			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
German	Küchenzwiebel		as Allium cepa Cepa Group	2	Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage Note: = Allium cepa Cepa Group
German	Sommerzwiebel		as Allium cepa Cepa Group	2	Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage Note: = Allium cepa Cepa Group
German	Speisezwiebel			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguese	cebola			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanish	cebolla			2	Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
2	Cultivated					also cult. elsewhere
2	Cultivated	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Chad			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	Northern Africa	Egypt			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Burkina Faso			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Ghana			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Mali			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Niger			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Nigeria			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Senegal			PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Armenia			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Azerbaijan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Georgia			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Caucasus	Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia	Ciscaucasia		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	China	China			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Japan			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Korea			Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:75.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Eastern Asia	Taiwan			Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kazakhstan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Kyrgyzstan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Tajikistan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Turkmenistan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Middle Asia	Uzbekistan			Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Amur		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Russian Far East	Russian Federation	Primorye		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation-Eastern Siberia	Eastern Siberia		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Siberia	Russian Federation-Western Siberia	Western Siberia		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Iran			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Asia-Temperate	Western Asia	Turkey			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Pakistan			Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand			Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Malesia	Philippines			Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Papuasia	Papua New Guinea			Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
2	Cultivated	Australasia	Australia	Australia			Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
2	Cultivated	Europe		Europe			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Europe	Eastern Europe	Russian Federation-European part	European part		Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
2	Cultivated	Northern America		Canada			FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil			Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Central America	Belize			Balick, M. J. et al. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 85
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Central America	Guatemala			Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
2	Cultivated	Southern America	Western South America	Ecuador			Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75

Cultivated

REGION:

Africa

NORTHERN AFRICA: Egypt
NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Zambia, Zimbabwe

Asia-Temperate

WESTERN ASIA: Iran, Turkey
CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia], Russian Federation-Eastern Siberia [Eastern Siberia]
MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Russian Federation [Primorye, Amur]
CHINA: China
EASTERN ASIA: Korea, Japan, Taiwan

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Pakistan
PAPUASIA: Papua New Guinea
INDO-CHINA: Thailand
MALESIA: Philippines

Australasia

AUSTRALIA: Australia

Europe

EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part]
REGION: Europe

Northern America

REGION: Canada

Southern America

CENTRAL AMERICA: Belize, Guatemala
BRAZIL: Brazil
WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Ecuador

Reference(s)

PROTABASE, the information base of PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa) (on-line resource).
Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
Balick, M. J. et al. 2000. Checklist of the vascular plants of Belize, with common names and uses. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 85
FNA Editorial Committee. 1993-. Flora of North America.
Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6
Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75
Lazarides, M. & B. Hince. 1993. CSIRO Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia
Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:75.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Siemonsma, J. S. & Kasem Piluek, eds. 1993. Vegetables. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 8:68. Note: = Allium cepa Common Onion Group
Standley, P. C. & J. A. Steyermark. 1946-1976. Flora of Guatemala.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Food additives	flavoring		Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
Human food	vegetable		Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=409114. Accessed 12 May 2026.