Allium ampeloprasum
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 includes southern Europe, southwestern Asia and North Africa, but it has been cultivated and naturalized in many other countries.
Allium ampeloprasum has been differentiated into five cultivated vegetables: leek, elephant garlic, pearl onion, kurrat, and Persian leek.
Description
Wild populations produce bulbs up to across. Scapes are round in cross-section, each up to tall, bearing an umbel of as many as 500 flowers. Flowers are urn-shaped, up to across; tepals white, pink or red; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow.Distribution and habitat
The plant's native range is southern Europe to southwestern Asia and North Africa, including all countries bordering the Black, Adriatic, and Mediterranean Seas from Portugal to Egypt to Romania. In Russia and Ukraine, it is considered invasive except in Crimea, where it is native. It is also native to Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Iraq.It is considered naturalized in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the Baltic States, Belarus, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Australia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the United States, Galápagos, and Argentina.
The species may have been introduced to Britain by prehistoric people, where its habitat consists of rocky places near the coast in south-west England and Wales.
Conservation
The plant is protected by law in Israel as well as York County, Virginia, where it is commonly known as the "Yorktown onion".Cultivation
Allium ampeloprasum is the source of several vegetables, most notably:- Leek
- Elephant garlic or great-headed garlic
- Pearl onion
- Kurrat, Egyptian leek or salad leek. This variety has small bulbs, and primarily the leaves are eaten.
- Persian leek. A cultivated allium native to the Middle East and Iran, grown for culinary purposes and called tareh in Persian. The linear green leaves have a mild onion flavor and are eaten raw, either alone, or in food combinations.