spring onions are known as ‘green onions’ in the USA, and also as ‘salad onions’ or ‘scallions’. The last name is not exclusive, for it is also applied to the individual bulbs of aggregate onions such as shallots, and sometimes even to leeks. Most of the spring onions grown in the West are simply immature plants which, if left in the ground (and suitably thinned out) would develop into full-sized onions. Thus the same onion patch would produce spring onions, as thinnings, in spring, and large onions in the autumn.
