ONION is a species of biennial herbaceous plants widely and for a long time cultivated as a vegetable plant for its bulbs of strong flavor and smell or for its leaves. The term also designates the bulb of this plant harvested as a vegetable. By extension, it sometimes colloquially designates in gardening the bulbs of other plants, generally inedible (for example: tulip onion). The onion is used both as a vegetable and as a condiment.