Garlic - plant profile

Names

Garlic (English)
Arishtha, lashuna (Sanskrit)
Lasan (Hindu and Gujarat)
Vellaipundu (Tamil)

Botanical name: Allium sativum
Family: Alliaceae, the onion family

The plant

Garlic is an upright plant that grows up to about 60 cm tall. The long, sword-shaped leaves grow from the bulb beneath the surface of the soil.

Botanical print of garlic, showing the bulb, flower and whole plant.

Find out more

Image: A botanical illustration of a garlic plant showing details of the bulb and flower.

Bulbs - rounded, composed of several smaller bulbs called cloves. Cloves and bulbs are covered by a white papery coat and are used in both cookery and medicine.

Only known as a domesticated crop in cultivation, garlic is thought to have originated in Central Asia.