Israel wildflowers: Tel Aviv Garlic

Allium tel-avivense, Tel Aviv Garlic,
Hebrew: שום תל-אביב, Arabic: الثوم اليافاوي

Scientific name:   Allium tel-avivense Eig
Common name:   Tel Aviv Garlic
Hebrew name:   שום תל-אביב
Arabic name:   الثوم اليافاوي
Family:   Amaryllidaceae, נרקיסיים
Subfamily:   Allioideae (formerly treated as a separate family, Alliaceae)
Tribe:   Allieae (comprises a single genus, Allium)
Genus:   Allium, שום


Life form:   Geophyte
Stems:   12-25cm
Leaves:   Alternate, rosette, entire
Flowers:   Pink
Fruits:   capsular, dehiscence loculicidal; Seeds black, obovoid, finely cellular-reticulate, cells smooth or minutely roughened, with 1-8 papillae, without caruncle
Flowering Period:   March
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediteranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Allium, onion, chive and garlic. From the classical Latin name for garlic.

tel-avivense from Tel Aviv.
The Hebrew word: שום, shum, Akkadian: sumu; Aramaic: Thomas; שום, אכדית: sumu; ארמית: תומא

  • The standard author abbreviation Eig is used to indicate Alexander Eig (1894 – 1938), a botanist, one of the first plant researchers in Israel, head of department for Botanics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-founder of Jerusalem Botanical Gardens on Mount Scopus.

Allium tel-avivense is closely related to Allium aschersonianum, with a larger inflorescence and a shorter stalk; it is endemic to coastal Israel.