Allium is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, scallion, shallot and chives. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic, the type species for the genus is Allium sativum which means "cultivated garlic". Linnaeus first described the genus Allium in 1753; some sources refer to Greek ἀλέω by reason of the smell of garlic. Various Allium have been cultivated from the earliest times, about a dozen species are economically important as crops, or garden vegetables, an increasing number of species are important as ornamental plants; the decision to include a species in the genus Allium is taxonomically difficult, species boundaries are unclear. Estimates of the number of species are as low as 260, as high as 979. Allium species occur in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere, except for a few species occurring in Chile and tropical Africa, they vary in height between 150 cm. The flowers form an umbel at the top of a leafless stalk.

The bulbs vary from small to rather large. Some species develop thickened leaf-bases rather than forming bulbs as such. Plants of the genus Allium produce chemical compounds derived from cysteine sulfoxides, that give them a characteristic onion, or garlic and odor. Many are used as food plants, though not all members of the genus are flavorful. In most cases, both bulb and leaves are edible; the cooking and consumption of parts of the plants is due to the large variety of textures, flavours, which may be strong or weak, that they can impart to the dish they are used in. The characteristic Allium flavor depends on the sulfate content of the soil. In the rare occurrence of sulfur-free growth conditions, all Allium species lose their usual pungency. In the APG III classification system, Allium is placed in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae. In some of the older classification systems, Allium was placed in Liliaceae. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown. Allium is one of about fifty-seven genera of flowering plants with more than 500 species.

It is by far the largest genus in the Amaryllidaceae, in the Alliaceae in classification systems in which that family is recognized as separate. The genus Allium is characterised by herbaceous geophyte perennials with true bulbs, some of which are borne on rhizomes, an onion or garlic odor and flavor; the bulbs are solitary or clustered and tunicate and the plants are perennialized by the bulbs reforming annually from the base of the old bulbs, or are produced on the ends of rhizomes or, in a few species, at the ends of stolons. A small number of species have tuberous roots; the bulbs' outer coats are brown or grey, with a smooth texture, are fibrous, or with cellular reticulation. The inner coats of the bulbs are membranous. Many alliums have basal leaves that wither away from the tips downward before or while the plants flower, but some species have persistent foliage. Plants produce from most species having linear, channeled or flat leaf blades; the leaf blades are straight or variously coiled, but some species have broad leaves, including A. victorialis and A. tricoccum.

The leaves are sessile, rarely narrowed into a petiole. The flowers, which are produced on scapes are erect or in some species pendent, having six petal-like tepals produced in two whorls; the flowers have six epipetalous stamens. The ovaries are superior, three-lobed with three locules; the fruits are capsules that open longitudinally along the capsule wall between the partitions of the locule. The seeds are black, have a rounded shape; the terete or flattened flowering scapes are persistent. The inflorescences are umbels, in which the outside flowers bloom first and flowering progresses to the inside; some species produce bulbils within the umbels, in some species, such as Allium paradoxum, the bulbils replace some or all the flowers. The umbels are subtended by noticeable spathe bracts, which are fused and have around three veins; some bulbous alliums increase by forming little bulbs or "offsets" around the old one, as well as by seed. Several species can form many bulbils in the flowerhead. Many of the species of Allium have been used as food items throughout their ranges.

There are several poisonous species that are somewhat similar in appearance, but none of these has the distinctive scent of onions or garlic. With over 850 species Allium is the sole genus in the Allieae, one of four tribes of subfamily Allioideae. New species continue to be described and Allium is one of the largest monocotyledonous genera, but the precise taxonomy of Allium is poorly understood, with incorrect descriptions being widespread; the difficulties arise from the fact that the genus displays considerable polymorphism and has adapted to a wide variety of habitats. Furthermore, traditional classications had been based on homoplasious characteristics. However, the genus has been shown to be monophyletic, containing three major clades, although some proposed subgenera are not; some progress is being made using molecular phylogenetic methods, the i

The Champ Car Mont-Tremblant 07 was the sixth round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season. It was held on July 1 at the Circuit Mont-Tremblant, in Saint-Jovite, Canada. Robert Doornbos won his first career Champ Car race, with Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power rounding out the podium. Wet conditions on Saturday secured the first career Champ Car pole position for Tristan Gommendy, who pipped his countryman Sébastien Bourdais by.007 second on Friday. The Saturday session began with a brief rain shower; the track dried enough to allow drivers to return to slicks but the times remained well short of Friday's. Will Power led the Saturday session to earn the front row starting spot next to Gommendy. * Paul Tracy qualified 11th but crashed his car in Sunday practice and started from the back of the grid in his backup car. The race got off to a ragged start as polesitter Tristan Gommendy's car failed to fire for the formation lap; as the lights for the standing start went out three cars stalled, the first time stalls marred a standing start for Champ Car in three races.

Team Australia teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud and Jan Heylen were left stranded on the grid. Sébastien Bourdais took advantage of the misfortune in front of him to take the early lead, it appeared as if Bourdais jumped the start. It would not be the last controversial moment in the race; the early laps of the race were run in threatening conditions. Power and Heylen were all able to rejoin the race on the lead lap, while Gommendy lost two laps while his car troubles were sorted out. Shortly after the field finished the first round of pit stops staying on slick tires, light rain began to fall. Jan Heylen spun. Bourdais made an uncharacteristic mistake by sliding off the track on a slippery corner under yellow, dropping him from the lead back to 11th place; the rain was intermittent and unpredictable, so the field continued to skate around on slick tires. Robert Doornbos and Graham Rahal held the lead following Bourdais' error; the skies opened up on lap 44. Slick tires were no longer an option at this point.

Rahal looked to be in position to run away with the race as the field pitted for fuel and rain tires, but his car stuck in gear during the stop and he was shuffled to the rear of the field, giving the lead over to Justin Wilson. Wilson's British wet weather driving experience didn't seem to help him much on the treacherous track and he gave up the lead to 2006 Atlantics champion Pagenaud, who took the lead for the first time in Champ Car race, he led for five laps. Bourdais was in 2nd. Sometime during this stage of the race, Bourdais claims Doornbos blocked him and began to lobby for a penalty over his radio. Champ Car did not impose a penalty. Bourdais backed off to preserve his 2nd place and Doornbos came home to his first Champ Car victory. Power was able to get around teammate Pagenaud for the final spot on the podium. In his post-race interview broadcast on TV and on the screens at the track, Bourdais complained about Doornbos' tactics; the crowd booed the Frenchman, who would refuse to shake Doornbos' hand on the podium.

Doornbos claimed innocence, explaining that in the wet everyone was taking odd lines looking for traction, that he learned his lesson about blocking from the penalty he received in the previous race at Cleveland, which cost him a victory. New Race Record: Robert Doornbos 1:45:41.899

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece and is measured in beats per minute. In modern classical compositions, a "metronome mark" in beats per minute may supplement or replace the normal tempo marking, while in modern genres like electronic dance music, tempo will simply be stated in bpm. Tempo may be separated from articulation and meter, or these aspects may be indicated along with tempo, all contributing to the overall texture. While the ability to hold a steady tempo is a vital skill for a musical performer, tempo is changeable. Depending on the genre of a piece of music and the performers' interpretation, a piece may be played with slight tempo rubato or drastic accelerando. In ensembles, the tempo is indicated by a conductor or by one of the instrumentalists, for instance the drummer. While tempo is described or indicated in many different ways, including with a range of words, it is measured in beats per minute.

For example, a tempo of 60 beats per minute signifies one beat per second, while a tempo of 120 beats per minute is twice as rapid, signifying one beat every 0.5 seconds. The note value of a beat will be that indicated by the denominator of the time signature. For instance, in 44 the beat will be a crotchet; this measurement and indication of tempo became popular during the first half of the 19th century, after Johann Nepomuk Maelzel invented the metronome. Beethoven was one of the first composers to use the metronome. Instead of beats per minute, some 20th-century classical composers specify the total playing time for a piece, from which the performer can derive tempo. With the advent of modern electronics, bpm became an precise measure. Music sequencers use the bpm system to denote tempo. In popular music genres such as electronic dance music, accurate knowledge of a tune's bpm is important to DJs for the purposes of beatmatching; the speed of a piece of music can be gauged according to measures per minute or bars per minute, the number of measures of the piece performed in one minute.

This measure is used in ballroom dance music. In different musical contexts, different instrumental musicians, conductors, music directors or other individuals will select the tempo of a song or piece. In a popular music or traditional music group or band, the bandleader or lead singer may select the tempo. In popular and traditional music, whoever is setting the tempo counts out one or two bars in tempo. In some songs or pieces in which a singer or solo instrumentalist begins the work with a solo introduction, the tempo they set will provide the tempo for the group. In an orchestra or concert band, the conductor sets the tempo. In a marching band, the drum major may set the tempo. In a sound recording, in some cases a record producer may set the tempo for a song. In classical music it is customary to describe the tempo of a piece by one or more words, most in Italian, in addition to or instead of a metronome mark in beats per minute. Italian is used because it was the language of most composers during the time these descriptions became commonplace.

Some well-known Italian tempo indications include "Allegro", "Andante" and "Presto". This practice developed during the baroque and classical periods. In the earlier Renaissance music, performers understood most music to flow at a tempo defined by the tactus; the mensural time signature indicated. In the Baroque period, pieces would be given an indication, which might be a tempo marking, or the name of a dance, the latter being an indication both of tempo and of metre. Any musician of the time was expected to know how to interpret these markings based on custom and experience. In some cases, these markings were omitted. For example, the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 has no tempo or mood indication whatsoever. Despite the increasing number of explicit tempo markings, musicians still observe conventions, expecting a minuet to be at a stately tempo, slower than a Viennese waltz. Genres imply tempos. Thus, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote "In tempo d'un Menuetto" over the first movement of his Piano Sonata Op. 54, though that movement is not a minuet.

Many tempo markings indicate mood and expression. For example and allegro both indicate a speedy execution, but allegro connotes joy. Presto, on the other hand indicates speed. Additional Italian words indicate tempo and mood. For example, the "agitato" in the Allegro agitato of the last movement of George Gershwin's piano concerto in F has both a tempo indication and a mood indication. Composers name movements of compositions after their tempo marking. For instance, the second movement of Samuel Barber's first String Quartet is an Adagio. A particular musical form or genre implies its own tempo, so composers need place no further explanation in the score. Popular music charts use terms such as bossa nova, ballad