''Allium ursinum'', known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a
bulbous
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
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
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "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 onio ...
and
garlic, all belonging to the same genus, ''
Allium
''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,Gledhill, D ...
''. There are two recognized subspecies: ''A. ursinum'' subsp. ''ursinum'' and ''A. ursinum'' subsp. ''ucrainicum''.
Etymology
The Latin specific name ''ursinum'' translates to 'bear' and refers to the supposed fondness of the
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...
for the bulbs; folk tales describe the bears consuming them after awakening from hibernation.
Another theory is that the "''ursinum''" may refer to
Ursa Major
Ursa Major (; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear," referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa ...
, as ''A. ursinum'' was perhaps one of the most northerly distributed ''Allium'' species known to the
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
,
though this hypothesis is disputed. Common names for the plant in many languages also make reference to bears.
Cows love to eat them, hence the modern vernacular name of cows's leek. In Devon, dairy farmers have occasionally had the milk of their herds rejected because of the garlic flavour imparted to it by the cows having grazed upon the plant.
Ramsons is from the Saxon word ''hramsa'', meaning "garlic". There is evidence it has been used in English cuisine since
Celtic Britons over 1,500 years ago.
Early healers among the Celts, Teutonic tribes and ancient Romans were familiar with the wild herb and called it ''herba salutaris'', meaning 'healing herb'.
Description
![Illustration Allium ursinum1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Illustration_Allium_ursinum1.jpg)
''Allium ursinum'' is a bulbous, perennial herbaceous
monocot
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one Embryo#Plant embryos, embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. Th ...
, that reproduces primarily by seed. The narrow bulbs are formed from a single leaf base
[ and produce bright green entire, elliptical leaves up to long x wide with a petiole up to long.][ The ]inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
is an umbel
In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...
of six to 20 white flowers, lacking the bulbil
A bulbil (also referred to as bulbel, bulblet, and/or pup) is a small, young plant that is reproduced vegetatively from axillary buds on the parent plant's stem or in place of a flower on an inflorescence. These young plants are clones of the par ...
s produced by some other ''Allium'' species such as '' Allium vineale'' (crow garlic) and '' Allium oleraceum'' (field garlic). The flowers are star-like with six white tepal
A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
s, about in diameter, with stamens shorter than the perianth.[
It flowers in the British Isles from April to June,] starting before deciduous trees leaf in the spring. The flower stem is triangular in cross-section and the leaves are broadly lanceolate, similar to those of the toxic lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis
Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate N ...
'').
Distribution
It is native to temperate regions of Europe, from Britain east to the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
. It is common in much of the lowland British Isles with the exception of the far north of Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, and the Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
. The ''ursinum'' subspecies is found in western and central Europe, while the ''ucrainicum'' subspecies is found in the east and southeast.
Herbal remedy
''Allium ursinum'' has been credited with many medicinal qualities and is a popular homeopathic ingredient. It is often used for treating cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive problems, as well as for the sterilisation of wounds.
Various minerals are found in much higher amounts in ''Allium ursinum'' than in clove garlic. It is sometimes called the “magnesium king” of plants because of the high levels of this mineral found in the leaves. Magnesium is known as the anti-stress mineral and protects the circulatory system, especially the heart.
Habitat
It grows in deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
woodlands with moist soils, preferring slightly acidic conditions. In the British Isles, colonies are frequently associated with bluebells ('' Hyacinthoides non-scripta''), especially in ancient woodland
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...
. It is considered to be an ancient woodland indicator species.
''Allium ursinum'' in cooking
All parts of the ''Allium ursinum'' plant are edible and have culinary uses, including the flower which can be used to garnish salads.
The leaves of the ''Allium ursinum'' are the most popular part to be used in food. Leaves can be used in raw salads and carry a very subtle garlicky flavour similar to that of garlic chives. When picked the leaves bruise, making them smell even stronger. When cooked the flavour of the leaves becomes softer and sweeter.
The leaf is often chopped and used to replace garlic and other herbs in many recipes. The bulb can be used in a similar way to clove garlic.
Popular dishes using the plant include pesto, soups, pasta, cheese, scones and Devonnaise.
Edibility
The leaves of ''A. ursinum'' are edible; they can be used as salad, herb, boiled as a vegetable, in soup, or as an ingredient for a sauce that may be a substitute for pesto
Pesto () is a sauce that traditionally consists of crushed garlic, European pine nuts, coarse salt, basil leaves, and hard cheese such as Parmigiano-Reggiano (also known as Parmesan cheese) or Pecorino Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk), a ...
in lieu of basil
Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also k ...
. Leaves are also often used to make garlic butter. The stems are preserved by salting and eaten as a salad in Russia. A variety of Cornish Yarg cheese has a rind coated in wild garlic leaves. The leaves can be pickled in the same way as Allium ochotense known as mountain garlic in Korea. The bulbs and flowers are also edible. It is used for preparing herbed cheese, a Van speciality in Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
The leaves are also used as fodder. Cows that have fed on ramsons give milk that tastes slightly of garlic, and butter made from this milk used to be very popular in 19th-century Switzerland.
The first evidence of the human use of ''A. ursinum'' comes from the Mesolithic settlement of Barkær (Denmark), where an impression of a leaf has been found. In the Swiss Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
settlement of Thayngen
Thayngen () is a village and a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2009 Altdorf, Bibern, Hofen, Opfertshofen merged into Thayngen.[Cortaillod culture
The Cortaillod culture is one of several archaeologically defined cultures belonging to the Neolithic period of Switzerland. The ''Cortaillod'' Culture in the west of the region is contemporary with the Pfyn Culture
in the east and dates from b ...]
), a high concentration of pollen from ''A. ursinum'' was found in the settlement layer, interpreted by some as evidence for the use of ''A. ursinum'' as fodder.
Similarity to poisonous plants
Plants that may be mistaken for ''A. ursinum'' include lily of the valley
Lily of the valley (''Convallaria majalis'' (), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate No ...
, ''Colchicum autumnale
''Colchicum autumnale'', commonly known as autumn crocus, meadow saffron, or naked ladies, is a toxic autumn-blooming flowering plant that resembles the true crocuses, but is a member of the plant family Colchicaceae, unlike the true crocuses, whi ...
'', ''Arum maculatum
''Arum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...
'', and '' Veratrum viride'' or ''Veratrum album
''Veratrum album'', the false helleborine, white hellebore, European white hellebore, or white veratrum ( syn. ''Veratrum lobelianum'' Bernh.) is a poisonous plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to Europe and parts of western Asia (west ...
'', all of which are poisonous. In Europe, where ramsons are popularly harvested from the wild, people are regularly poisoned after mistakenly picking lily of the valley or ''Colchicum autumnale''.[
Grinding the leaves between the fingers and checking for a garlic-like smell can be helpful, but if the smell remains on the hands, one can mistake a subsequent poisonous plant for ''bear garlic''.][Risk of mix-up with bear's garlic - BfR warns pickers about fatal consequences of mistaking free-growing poisonous plants for bear’s garlic, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment; 2005]
/ref> When the leaves of ''A. ursinum'' and ''Arum maculatum'' first sprout, they look similar, but unfolded ''Arum maculatum
''Arum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region. Frequently called arum lilies, they are not closely ...
'' leaves have irregular edges and many deep veins, while ramsons leaves are convex with a single main vein. The leaves of lily of the valley are paired, dull green and come from a single reddish-purple stem, while the leaves of ''A. ursinum'' emerge individually are initially shiny and are bright green.
Ecology
As its name suggests, ''A. ursinum'' is an important food for brown bears. The plant is also a favourite of wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
.
''A. ursinum'' is the primary larval host plant for a specialised hoverfly, ramsons hoverfly (''Portevinia maculata'').
The flowers are pollinated by bees.Woodland Trust - Ramsons
/ref>
Gallery
File:Daslook (Allium ursinum) d.j.b 07.jpg, Allium ursinum ramsons. The small flower buds are entwined in the cracked flower bud.
File:Daslook (Allium ursinum) d.j.b 02.jpg, Allium ursinum ramsons. Small delicate flowers and flower buds on a slender stem.
File:Daslook (Allium ursinum) d.j.b 05.jpg,
File:Allium ursinum (Bärlauch) - Blüte.jpg,
File:Allium ursinum2.jpg,
File:Allium ursinum sl1.jpg, Fruit with seeds.
File:AlliumUrsinumAspekt.jpg, Ramsons in a forest.
See also
* Allioideae
Allioideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. It was formerly treated as a separate family, Alliaceae. The subfamily name is derived from the generic name of the type genus, ''Allium''. ...
* ''Allium tricoccum
''Allium tricoccum'' (commonly known as ramp, ramps, ramson, wild leek, wood leek, or wild garlic) is a North American species of wild onion or garlic widespread across eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Many of the common English na ...
'' - North American wild leek (or "ramps", a cognate of "ramsons")
* ''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 is southern Europe to western Asia, but it is cultivated in many other places and has becom ...
'' - Eurasian broadleaf wild leek
* '' Allium victorialis''
* List of ''Allium'' species
References
External links
Tutin, T.G. 1957. Biological flora of the British Isles: ''Allium ursinum''. Journal of Ecology 45(3) pp.1003-1010.
* Ramsons at Gernot Katzer'
*
*
{{Authority control
ursinum
Garlic
Flora of Europe
Herbs
Medicinal plants of Asia
Medicinal plants of Europe
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus