Common name
English: Onion
German: Zwiebel
Portuguese: Cebola
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae (2713)
Phylum: Tracheophyta (2628)
Class: Liliopsida (397)
Order: Liliales (111)
Family: Amaryllidaceae (29)(family description)
Genus: Allium (11)
Epithet: cepa L. (1)
Synonyms: Allium angolense Baker, Allium aobanum Araki, Allium cepaeum St.-Lag., Allium commune Noronha, Allium cumaria Buch.-Ham. ex Wall., Allium esculentum Salisb., Allium napus Pall. ex Kunth, Allium pauciflorum Willd. ex Ledeb., Allium salota Dostál, Ascalonicum sativum P.Renault, Cepa alba P.Renault, Cepa esculenta Gray, Cepa pallens P.Renault, Cepa rubra P.Renault, Kepa esculenta Raf., Porrum cepa (L.) Rchb.
alba => white
angolense => from Angola
cepa => latin name for onion
esculenta => edible, fit for human food
esculentum => edible, fit for human food
napus => latin for turnip
pallens => somewhat pallid, greenish
pauciflorum => few-flowered
rubra => red in a general sense
sativum => sown, planted, cultivated, not wild
Characteristics
Climate: sub-tropical
Habit: herb
Flower colour: white