Garlic is a flowering plant, though it is not a traditional garden flower. It is a species of bulbous flowering plant that produces a reproductive structure, which is often misunderstood due to its unique appearance. The plant’s structure, including its underground storage organ and aerial stalk, is specialized for survival and efficient reproduction. Understanding these distinct parts helps explain why its botanical identity is often confusing.
Garlic’s Botanical Identity
Garlic, scientifically known as Allium sativum, is classified as a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, commonly called the onion family. This classification places it alongside relatives like onions, chives, and leeks, all sharing the characteristic of growing from a bulb and containing distinct sulfur compounds. As a monocot, its leaves are long, flat, and linear, emerging directly from the central stem structure.
Garlic is not cultivated for its visual bloom like a rose or tulip, but its identity as a flowering plant is confirmed by its ability to produce a reproductive stalk. This central stalk, known as a scape, rises above the leaves and culminates in an umbel, a cluster of small pink or purple flowers. The presence of this flowering stem structure confirms garlic’s status as a true flowering plant. It is primarily grown as an annual crop, focusing on developing the subterranean storage organ rather than the aerial reproductive parts.
The Purpose of the Scape and Bulb
The two most confusing parts of the garlic plant are the scape and the bulb. The scape is a stiff, central stalk that emerges primarily from “hardneck” varieties of garlic, often coiling into a distinctive curl. At the tip of the scape is a bulb-like head called the umbel, which may contain small, often sterile, flowers.
Crucially, the umbel typically produces small, aerial cloves called bulbils instead of viable true seeds. These bulbils are genetically identical clones of the parent plant, representing an asexual form of reproduction. Farmers often remove the scape, a practice known as “cutting scapes,” to redirect the plant’s energy away from bulbil production and into the subterranean bulb, resulting in a larger final harvest.
The bulb is a specialized, subterranean storage organ and the most familiar part of the plant. It is composed of multiple segments, or cloves, which are specialized lateral buds that grow on a flattened stem plate. The primary function of the bulb is vegetative reproduction, as each clove can be planted to grow a new, genetically identical garlic plant. This cloning method is the main way commercial garlic is propagated, which is why the scape is often removed to ensure a robust, edible bulb.