de Vahl, Erik
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
To deepen the knowledge of the plant material and the names use connected to cultons spread in the 19th century might be of essential value. Historical records of old growing systems and propagation methods add valuable knowledge to the preservation values tied to the genetic diversity of the gene pool for future breeding. In historical records, different cultons, now regarded as Allium cepa L. has often been taxonomically divided into vegetatively propagated shallots and seed-propagated onions (Rabinowitch and Kamenetsky, 2002). Furthermore, shallots have been widely known by the rural population in Sweden as “potatislök” (potato onion) and preserved as heirloom landraces (Nygårds and Leino, 2013; Strese and de Vahl, 2018). Differing practices and principles regarding distinguishing between potato onions, shallots and onions in European countries have sometimes made it difficult to understand historical records. This study presents the plant material of A. cepa L. Aggregatum Group introduced and spread in Sweden between 1830 and 1860. The plant material exemplifies different principles regarding the denominations and shows the range of cultons available in the north of Europe by the time, but also examples of domestic local cultivars. Shallot and potato onions, later mainly vegetatively propagated, were already in the 19th century occasionally propagated and spread by true seed, in Europe and to Sweden. In addition, a Russian growing system with a true seed generation was known in literature. At this time, the ability to give true seeds were important to distinguish between shallots and potato onion in the UK, while other criteria were used in Germany and France. This study adds to the understanding of how the historical introduction of the concept of the cultivar was spread in the 19th century and how the cultivar names used reflects beliefs tied to the plant material at the time.
Keywords
heirloom cultivars; horticultural history; multiplying onion; potato onion; shallot
Published in
Acta Horticulturae
2024, volume: 1398, pages: 27-38
Title: Proceedings of the VIII International Symposium on Edible Alliums : Pula, Croatia, May 23-25, 2022
Publisher: International Society for Horticultural Science
Conference
VIII International Symposium on Edible Alliums, May 23-25 2022, Croatia
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Horticulture
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1398.5
- ISBN: 978-94-62613-97-3
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/142872