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.