Allium paradoxum explained

Allium paradoxum, the few-flowered garlic or few-flowered leek, is an Asian species of wild onion in the Amaryllis family. It is native to mountainous regions of Iran, Caucasus, and Turkmenistan and invasive in Europe.

Description

Allium paradoxum is a herbaceous perennial growing from a small solitary bulb to about 20– in height. It has much narrower leaves, from 5to wide, than Allium ursinum but a similar 'garlicky' smell. The flower stem is triangular in section. Most of the flowers are replaced by little bulbs or bulbils and the few (usually only one) proper flowers are white and hermaphrodite.^[1]

Distribution

Allium paradoxum is native to mountainous regions of Iran, Caucasus, and Turkmenistan.^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}

It was introduced to the British Isles in 1823 and was first recorded in the wild there in 1863, near Edinburgh.^[7] It is generally a lowland plant, and the highest record for Britain comes from Carter Bar at 3750NaN0.^[8] It is considered an invasive, non-native species in Europe. In England and Wales, the species is listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act^[9] and as such, it is illegal to plant in the wild. The smell of the plant is particularly noticeable to a person who is approaching an area where it is growing.^[10]

Habitat

It grows well in deciduous woodland habitats, forming a green carpet that can smother other native species such as bluebells and snowdrops.^{[10] [11]} It also grows in a variety of habitats including river banks, rough pasture, field edges, roadsides and wasteground.^[8]

Cuisine

The few-flowered leek is edible and can be eaten raw as well as made into dishes. It can also be used as a herb to flavour food, much in the same way as other wild garlics.^[12]

External links

• Few-flowered garlic video footage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Allium paradoxum - (M.Bieb.) G.Don.. Plants for a Future. 23 April 2013.
2. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=296228 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
3. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11270240#page/273/mode/1up Marschall von Bieberstein, Friedrich August. 1819. Flora Taurico-Caucasica 3: 267-268
4. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46959395#page/84/mode/1up Don, George 1832. Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society 6: 72
5. Komarov, V.L. (ed.) (1935). Flora SSSR 4: 1-586. Izdatel'stov Akademii Nauk SSSR, Leningrad.
6. Takhtajan, A.L. (ed.) (2006). Conspectus Florae Caucasi 2: 1-466. Editio Universitatis Petropolitanae
7. Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora, Allium paradoxum (Few-flowered garlic) . Nature in Cambridgeshire . 1993 . 35 . 67–75 . Biological Records Centre and Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland .
8. Allium paradoxum . Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora . 1993 . 35 . 67–75 . 21 March 2020.
9. Web site: Plants listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales. Plantlife. 23 April 2013. 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20130430025548/http://plantlife.org.uk/campaigns/INNS/invasive_non-native_plants_and_the_law/schedule9_england_wales/. 30 April 2013. dead.
10. Allium paradoxum (Few-flowered Garlic). Nature in Cambridgeshire . 1993 . 35 . 67–75 . Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. 23 April 2013.
11. Lambion, J., Delvosalle, L. & Duvigneaud, J. (2004). Nouvelle flore de la Belgique du G. D. de Luxembourg, du Nord de la France et des régions voisines, ed. 5: 1-1167. Edition du Patrimoine du Jardin botanique national de Belgique
12. Web site: Few-flowered garlic . WildFoodUK . 21 March 2020.