Carlo wrote: “Clifford Wright in 'Mediterranean Vegetables' writes that scallions green onions and spring onions all refer to Allium fistulosum, the differences between them attributable to cultivars (a nice word to find in a cookbook!).” Carlo, that’s a very different take than the one I’m used to. Although American seed catalogs do list some cultivars of Allium fistulosum, most of what we see/grow as scallions are non-bulbing Allium cepa (as I understand it). I don’t remember seeing the term green onions until relatively recently (within the last decade or so). I’ve always understood green onions to be bulbing onions in a very early stage of development (before the bulb develops much). Locally, the term is often used for the earliest Vidalia type onions sold with their green tops still attached. The term spring onions in my experience if often used for scallions (and as I know it, the word scallions refers to those early-harvested non- or only slightly-bulbing forms of Allium cepa and A. fistulosum). Wright might be correct if what he means is that Allium fistulosum is sometimes called green onions, spring onions or scallions; but if he means that those terms are to be applied exclusively to Allium fistulosum, I think he is mistaken. Is Wright a British writer? If so, the terms probably have a different usage pattern there, and that would help explain his statement. I’ve read, for instance, that the word scallion is still used sometimes in British usage to refer to what we would call shallots. I’ll have to look for Wright’s book. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/