Allium scorodoprasum

Last updated

Sand leek, rocambole
Illustration Allium scorodoprasum and Allium porrum0.jpg
Allium scorodoprasum [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. scorodoprasum
Binomial name
Allium scorodoprasum
L.
Synonyms [3]
Synonymy
  • Ascalonicum scorodoprasum(L.) P.Renault
  • Porrum scorodoprasum(L.) Rchb.
  • Allium arenariumL.
  • Allium contortumStokes
  • Allium obscurumM.Bieb. ex Schult. & Schult.f.
  • Porrum arenarium(L.) Rchb.
  • Allium neglectumWender.
  • Allium scorodoprasum var. multibulbillosumY.N.Lee
  • Allium supranisianumSailer
  • Allium persicumFisch. ex Regel

The sand leek (Allium scorodoprasum), also known as rocambole and Korean pickled-peel garlic, [4] is a Eurasian species of wild onion with a native range extending across much of Europe, Middle East, and Korea. [3] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The species should not be confused with rocambole garlic, which is A. sativum var. ophioscorodon.

Contents

Description

The sand leek is a perennial plant with an egg-shaped bulb. The plant produces two to five unstalked leaves, the bases of which are sheath-like. Each leaf blade is linear, 7–20 mm wide, [10] flat with a slight keel, an entire margin and parallel veins. The edges of the leaf and the central vein are rough to the touch. The flowering stem is cylindrical, growing to a height of 30 to 90 cm (12 to 35 in) and the upper half is leafless. The whole plant has an onion-like aroma. The inflorescence is a globular cluster surrounded by membranous bracts in bud which wither when the flowers open. Each individual flower is stalked and has a purple perianth 4 to 7 mm (0.16 to 0.28 in) long. There are six tepals, six stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. Mixed with the flowers are a number of purple bulbils. The fruit is a capsule, but the seeds seldom set, and propagation usually takes place when the bulbils are knocked off and grow into new plants. [11]

Distribution and habitat

The natural habitat of A. scorodoprasum is damp broad-leaved woodland, forest margins, shores, hillside meadows and hedgerows. It was at one time used as a kitchen herb and can sometimes be found near old habitations. [11] [12]

Cultivation

A. scorodoprasum is edible but seldom cultivated, and has a shorter flower stalk and fewer and more inconsistently shaped cloves than Rocambole garlic. Sand leek also has a dark violet bulb wrapper. [13]

Elephant garlic (properly A. ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is also sometimes incorrectly sold as A. scorodoprasum.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Chives Edible species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Chives, scientific name Allium schoenoprasum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae that produces edible leaves and flowers. Their close relatives include the common onions, garlic, shallot, leek, scallion, and Chinese onion.

Onion Bulbous vegetable, grown for food

The onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified as a separate species until 2010. Its close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek, chive, and Chinese onion.

Bulb Short plant stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases for food storage and water.

In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases that function as food storage organs during dormancy.

<i>Allium ursinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons,wild cowleek, cowlic, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland. It is a wild relative of onion and garlic, all belonging to the same genus, Allium. There are two recognized subspecies: A. ursinum subsp. ursinum and A. ursinum subsp. ucranicum.

<i>Allium oleraceum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium oleraceum, the field garlic, is a Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a bulbous perennial that grows wild in dry places, reaching 30 centimetres (12 in) in height. It reproduces by seed, bulbs and by the production of small bulblets in the flower head. Unlike A. vineale, it is very rare with A. oleraceum to find flower-heads containing bulbils only. In addition, the spathe in A. oleraceum is in two parts.

<i>Allium tricoccum</i> Species of wild onion

Allium tricoccum is a North American species of wild onion widespread across eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Many of the common English names for this plant are also used for other Allium species, particularly the similar Allium ursinum, which is native to Europe and Asia.

<i>Allium fistulosum</i> Species of plant

Allium fistulosum, the Welsh onion, also commonly called bunching onion, long green onion, Japanese bunching onion, and spring onion, is a species of perennial plant, often considered to be a kind of scallion.

Elephant garlic Subspecies of flowering plant

Elephant garlic is a perennial plant belonging to the onion genus. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk and broad, flat leaves. The flavor is milder than garlic and can be eaten raw in salads, roasted, or sauteed, but is generally not a substitute for conventional garlic in cooking. It is sometimes confused with solo garlic.

Tree onion Species of flowering plant

The tree onion is a perennial plant similar to the common onion (A. cepa), but with a cluster of bulblets where a normal onion would have flowers. Tree onions are also known as topsetting onions, walking onions, or Egyptian onions. Genomic evidence has conclusively shown that they are a diploid hybrid of the shallot and the Welsh onion (A. fistulosum). However, some sources may still treat the tree onion as A. cepa var. proliferum or A. cepa Proliferum Group.

<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 canadense</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium canadense, the Canada onion, Canadian garlic, wild garlic, meadow garlic and wild onion is a perennial plant native to eastern North America from Texas to Florida to New Brunswick to Montana. The species is also cultivated in other regions as an ornamental and as a garden culinary herb. The plant is also reportedly naturalized in Cuba.

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

Allium ampeloprasum is a member of the onion genus Allium. The wild plant is commonly known as wild leek or broadleaf wild leek. Its native range is southern Europe to western Asia, but it is cultivated in many other places and has become naturalized in many countries.

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

Allium sphaerocephalon is a plant species in the Amaryllis family known as round-headed leek, round-headed garlic, ball-head onion, and other variations on these names. Drumstick allium is another common name applied to this species. Some publications use the alternate spelling Allium sphaerocephalum. It is a bulbous herbaceous perennial plant.

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

Allium cernuum, known as nodding onion or lady's leek, is a perennial plant in the genus Allium. It grows in dry woods, rock outcroppings, and prairies. It has been reported from much of the United States, Canada and Mexico including in the Appalachian Mountains from Alabama to New York State, the Great Lakes Region, the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys, the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri, and the Rocky and Cascade Mountains of the West, from Mexico to Washington. It has not been reported from California, Nevada, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Delaware, New England, or much of the Great Plains. In Canada, it grows from Ontario to British Columbia.

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

Allium victorialis, commonly known as victory onion, Alpine leek, and Alpine broad-leaf allium is a broad-leaved Eurasian species of wild onion. It is a perennial of the Amaryllis family that occurs widely in mountainous regions of Europe and parts of Asia.

<i>Allium paradoxum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

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.

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

Allium rotundum, common name round-headed leek or purple-flowered garlic, is a Eurasian and North African species of wild onion. Its native range extends from Spain and Morocco to Iran and European Russia. It is sparingly naturalized in parts of the United States. The species grows in disturbed habitats such as roadsides, cultivated fields, etc.

<i>Allium thunbergii</i> Species of plant

Allium thunbergii, Thunberg's chive or Thunberg garlic, is an East Asian species of wild onion native to Japan, Korea, and China. It grows at elevations up to 3000 m. The Flora of China recognizes A. tunbergii and A. stenodon as separate species, but more recent sources combine the two.

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

Allium is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes 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".

Leek Vegetable in the onion family

The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus Allium also contains the onion, garlic, shallot, scallion, chive, and Chinese onion. Three closely related vegetables, elephant garlic, kurrat and Persian leek or tareh, are also cultivars of A. ampeloprasum, although different in their uses as food.

References

  1. 1885 illustration from Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
  2. Kell, S.P., Draper Munt, D., Magos Brehm, J., Korpelainen, H., Tavares, M., Collett, L., Labokas, J., Eliáš, P., Smekalova, T., Strajeru, S. & Bulińska, Z. (2011). Allium scorodoprasum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T172166A6840826. Downloaded on 05 January 2019.
  3. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  4. English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 348. ISBN   978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2016 via Korea Forest Service.
  5. Altervista Flora Italiana, Aglio romano, sand leek, Allium scorodoprasum L. includes photos, drawings, European distribution map
  6. Komarov, V.L. (ed.) (1935). Flora SSSR 4: 1-586. Izdatel'stov Akademii Nauk SSSR, Leningrad.
  7. Davis, P.H. (ed.) (1984). Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 8: 1-632. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
  8. Danin, A. (2004). Distribution Atlas of Plants in the Flora Palaestina area: 1-517. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Jerusalem.
  9. Dimpoulos, P., Raus, T., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, T., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A., & Tzanoudakis, D. (2013). Vascular plants of Greece. An annotated checklist: 1-372. Botanic gardens and botanical museum Berlin-Dahlem, Berlin and Hellenic botanical society, Athens.
  10. Stace, C. A. (2010). New Flora of the British Isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p.  903. ISBN   9780521707725.
  11. 1 2 "Sand leak: Allium scorodoprasum". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  12. "Allium scorodoprasum". Plants For A Future. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  13. Growing Great Garlic, 2nd Edition, Filaree Productions, 1992, p. 7.