Allium nigrum

Last updated

Black garlic
Allium nigrum (Allium magicum) Bot. Mag. 29. 1148. 1809.jpg
1809 illustration (as Allium magicum)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. nigrum
Binomial name
Allium nigrum
L., not All. (1785) nor Sm. (1823) nor M. Bieb. (1808)
Synonyms [1]
Synonymy
  • Allium afrum(Zucc.) Kunth
  • Allium bauerianumBaker
  • Allium cyrilli var. magicum(L.) Nyman
  • Allium littoreumG.Don
  • Allium magicumL.
  • Allium multibulbosum Jacq.
  • Allium nigrum f. albumMaire
  • Allium nigrum f. roseumMaire
  • Allium odorumTen. 1811, illegitimate homonym not L. 1767
  • Allium paniculatumViv. 1824, illegitimate homonym not L. 1759
  • Allium paucibulbosum(Haw.) Steud.
  • Canidia magica(L.) Salisb.
  • Kalabotis nigrum(L.) Raf.
  • Molium nigrum(L.) Haw.
  • Molium paucibulbosumHaw.
  • Ophioscorodon magicum(L.) Wallr.
  • Ornithogalum afrumZucc.
Inflorescence Allium nigrum GotBot 2015 003.jpg
Inflorescence
Leaves and stem Allium nigrum GotBot 2015 001.jpg
Leaves and stem

Allium nigrum, common name black garlic, broad-leaved leek, [2] or broadleaf garlic, is a Middle Eastern species of wild onion. It lacks the onion or garlic scent shared by most of the other species in the group. The species is native to Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel but cultivated as an ornamental in many other places. [1] It has become naturalized in some regions, including parts of the United States (especially Washington and Oregon). [3] [4]

Contents

Description

Allium nigrum produces asymmetric bulbs up to 5 cm across. Each plant has 3-6 leaves, lanceolate in shape, flat and bent to the side, up to 60 cm long and 2.5 cm across. Later the leaves become reflexed. Scapes are smooth and round in cross-section, 80–100 cm tall. The scape carries a dense umbellate inflorescence with star-like flowers up to 9 mm across; the tepals are white with a green midvein; the anthers are purple or yellow. The ovaries are black-green (but flushed with red in the Levant) in anthesis, but green when younger or following anthesis. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Taxonomy

It is the type species of Subgenus (Section) Melanocrommyum. Molecular evidence suggests that A. nigrum is a polymorphous species consisting of several infraspecific groups. [8]

Subdivision

Alliances: [8]

Allium nigrum alliance: Allium nigrum L. and A. multibulbosum Jacq. have often been treated as variants within a variable A. nigrum sensu lato . The type variant, A. nigrum sensu stricto is characterised by rose oblong tepals, rose filaments, and distinctly tri-sulcate, strongly coarse, dull, permanently green ovaries, while A. multibulbosum have white to pinkish-carmine, oblong tepals, filaments of the same color as tepals, but rounded, narrowly hexasulcate, smooth and commonly glossy ovaries. The latter commonly turn green from black, but some are permanently green. These variants are in a sister group relationship. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCLSPF) treat these as separate species. [1] [9]

However, Allium basalticum has been considered sufficiently distinct on molecular grounds, to be recognised as a new separate species. [10] Another distinct species is Allium dumetorum . [11] [8]

Allium asclepiadeum alliance: Allium asclepiadeum Bornm. was initially considered a separate species, but then submerged in A. nigrum. It has again been treated as a separate species based on molecular data, but under the new name of Allium meronense Fragman & R.M. Fritsch. WCLSPF, while accepting this new species, [12] have retained A. asclepiadeum as a separate species. [13] [8]

Allium orientale alliance: descriptions of Allium orientale Boiss. have varied, resulting in the name being applied to a variety of different plants, a concept not supported by molecular data which indicate Allium israeliticum Fragman & R.M. Fritsch, as a distinct new species. WCLSPF recognises both as distinct species. [14] [15] [8]

Etymology

The name nigrum (Latin: black) is derived from the colour of the ovaries. [7]

Uses

The plant is a frequent ornamental in European and North American gardens, having been introduced in the early twentieth century. [7] It is produced in Taean and Seosan in South Korea.

Related Research Articles

<i>Allium tuberosum</i> Species of onion native to southwestern parts of the Chinese province of Shanxi

Allium tuberosum is a species of plant native to the Chinese province of Shanxi, and cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in Asia and around the world.

<i>Allium vineale</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium vineale is a perennial, bulb-forming species of wild onion, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and the Middle East. The species was introduced in Australia and North America, where it has become a noxious weed.

<i>Allium stipitatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium stipitatum, Persian shallot, is an Asian species of onion native to central and southwestern Asia.

Allium tschimganicum is a Central Asian species of onion native to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Flora of China regards this name as synonymous with Allium fetisowiiRegel. However, other sources accept A. tschimganicum as a distinct species.

<i>Allium hollandicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium hollandicum, the Persian onion or Dutch garlic, is a species of flowering plant native to Iran and Kyrgyzstan but widely cultivated as an ornamental because of its umbels of attractive purple flowers. It is reportedly naturalized in Saint Louis County, Minnesota.

Allium decipiens is a Eurasian species of garlic in the amaryllis family native to eastern Europe and western Asia.

<i>Allium meronense</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium meronense is a plant species found in Israel and Lebanon. Bulbs are egg-shaped, up to 30 mm long. Scape is flexuous or ascendant, up to 25 cm long. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, up to 30 cm long. Tepals are white with faint green midveins; anthers yellow; ovary deep purple.

Allium elmaliense is a species of onion endemic to Antalya Province in southwestern Turkey. It has spherical to egg-shaped bulbs up to 3 cm in diameter. Stipe is up to 30 cm tall. Flowers are fragrant; tepals are white with green midveins.

Allium basalticum is a plant species found in Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon, and formerly considered under Allium nigrum. Bulbs are egg-shaped, up to 30 mm long. Scape is straight, round in cross-section, up to 60 cm tall. Leaves are narrowly lanceolate, up to 50 cm long. Tepals are white with conspicuous green midveins; anthers yellow; ovary deep purple at flowering time, later turning green.

Allium israeliticum is a species of onion native to Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Bulbs are egg-shaped, up to 30 mm long. Scape is flexuous, up to 40 cm long. Leaves are thick, recurved, up to 30 cm long, tapering toward the tip. Tepals are translucent white with green midveins; anthers yellow; ovary green.

Allium dumetorum is a Middle Eastern species of onion found in Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. It is a bulb-forming perennial with a few pinkish flowers; ovary pale green.

<i>Allium schubertii</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium schubertii, which has various common names including ornamental onion, flowering onion, tumbleweed onion and Persian onion, is a species of monocotyledonous flowering plant. It belongs to the onion and garlic genus, in the subfamily Allioideae of the family Amaryllidaceae. It occurs in the Levant and Libya.

Allium lachnophyllum is a species of wild onion native to Israel and Palestine. It is a bulb-forming perennial that produces an umbel of flowers.

Allium materculae is a species of onion native to Turkey, Iran, and Russia.

<i>Allium akaka</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium akaka is a species of onion native to Iran.

<i>Allium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants with hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic, and the type species for the genus is Allium sativum which means "cultivated garlic".

The precise taxonomy of the genus Allium is still poorly understood with incorrect descriptions being widespread. With over 850 species distributed over the Northern hemisphere Allium is the sole genus in the Allieae, one of four tribes of subfamily Allioideae (Amaryllidaceae). New species continue to be described and Allium is both highly variable and 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, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, including the 5.8S rDNA and the two spacers ITS1 and ITS2, is one of the more commonly used markers in the study of the differentiation of the Allium species.

<i>Allium suworowii</i> Species of plant in the genus Allium

Allium suworowii is a species of onion native to Afghanistan and Central Asia. It is a widely distributed and highly genetically variable species. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental.

<i>Allium orientale</i> Species of plant in the genus Allium

Allium orientale is a species of wild garlic/onion native to the eastern Mediterranean; Libya, Egypt, Sinai, the Levant, Cyprus and Anatolia. It has high genetic variation but is not widely distributed, suggesting that it may contain cryptic species.

References

  1. 1 2 3 WCLSPF 2016, A. nigrum
  2. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. 1 2 Flora of North America v 26 p 243, Allium nigrum
  4. 1 2 Bailey, L.H. & E.Z. Bailey. 1976. Hortus Third i–xiv, 1–1290. MacMillan, New York.
  5. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1762. Species Plantarum, Editio Secunda 1: 430.
  6. ↑ Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. 1: 1–914. In C. L. Hitchcock, Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
  7. 1 2 3 Fritsch et al 2006.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Fragman-Sapir & Fritsch 2011.
  9. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. multibulbosum
  10. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. basalticum
  11. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. dumetorum
  12. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. meronense
  13. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. asclepiadeum
  14. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. orientale
  15. ↑ WCLSPF 2016, A. israeliticum

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.