Editing Shallot (section)

== Description and cultivation ==
[[File:A. cepa var. aggregatum conreu.JPG|thumb|Shallot plant (''A. cepa var. aggregatum'') growing in [[Castelltallat]], Spain]]
[[File:Shallot whole plant.jpg|thumb|Whole shallot plants consist of roots, bulbs, leaves, stalks, and flowers.]]
[[File:Allium fistulosum MHNT.BOT.2011.3.23.jpg|thumb|Shallot seeds]]
Like [[garlic]], shallots are formed in clusters of [[offset (botany)|offsets]] with a head composed of multiple cloves. The skin colour of shallots can vary from golden brown to gray to rose red, and their off-white flesh is usually tinged with green or magenta.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nolte|first=Kurt|title=Shallot.pdf|url=https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Shallot.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122161314/https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/Shallot.pdf|archive-date=January 22, 2021|access-date=May 8, 2021|website=College of Agriculture and Life Sciences {{!}} The University of Arizona}}</ref>

Shallots are extensively cultivated for culinary uses, propagated by offsets. In some regions ("long-season areas"), the offsets are usually planted in autumn (September or October in the [[Northern Hemisphere]]).<ref>{{Citation |last=Hunt |first=Marjorie B. and Bortz, Brenda |year=1986 |title=High-Yield Gardening |location=Pennsylvania |publisher=Rodale Press |isbn=0-87857-599-5}}</ref> In some other regions, the suggested planting time for the principal crop is early spring (typically in February or the beginning of March in the Northern Hemisphere).<ref>{{Citation |last=Seabrook |first=Peter |year=1976 |title=Complete Vegetable Gardener |location=London |publisher=Cassell |isbn=978-0-304-29738-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/peterseabrooksco00seab }}</ref>

In planting, the tops of the [[bulb onion|bulbs]] should be kept a little above ground, and the [[soil]] surrounding the bulbs is often drawn away when the roots have taken hold. They come to maturity in summer, although fresh shallots can now be found year-round in supermarkets. Shallots should not be planted on ground recently [[manure]]d. Shallots suffer damage from [[leek moth]] larvae, which mine into the leaves or bulbs of the plant.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Landry|first=Jean-François|title=Taxonomic review of the leek moth genus Acrolepiopsis (Lepidoptera: Acrolepiidae) in North America|url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.4039/n06-098|journal=The Canadian Entomologist|year=2007|language=en-US|volume=139|issue=3|pages=319–353|doi=10.4039/n06-098|s2cid=86748199}}</ref>