Wild Onion (Allium cepa spp.)[]
- Height: 1 block
A healthy plot of Wild Onions.
- Typical crop, planted on farmland
- Time: Pleistocene to Recent
- Native biome(s): None (obtain from fossils)
- Resource(s):
- Food
- Edibility:
- Edible to humans
- Edible to most herbivorous mammals (E.g. Mammoth, Arsinoitherium)
- Poisonous to birds and non-avian dinosaurs (75% chance of a long Poison effect when eaten)
- Toxic to most mammal omnivores (e.g. Leptictidium) (long Poison effect + short Wither effect)
The lost Pleistocene ancestor of the modern Common Onion (Allium cepa), the exact Wild Onion species that gave rise to the bulbous vegetable we know today is unknown, and may even be extinct in the wild. It is not known when exactly the onion was first cultivated by humans, but traces of onions have been found in Bronze Age settlements dating back as far as 5000 BC, and it is also known to have been grown (and even worshipped) in Ancient Egypt.
Just about everything that applies to a modern onion also applies to the prehistoric Wild Onion, except its bulbs are considerably smaller than those of its modern descendants. In terms of size and shape, it is somewhat comparable to a shallot onion. This hardy plant does especially well in temperate and cool-temperate climates, and it can even resist frosts if it has to. Although this plant is perfectly safe and edible for humans, it is in fact very toxic to many other creatures including cats, dogs, and guinea pigs, so don't feed it to your animals!
Food dishes that use this plant: