Allium vineale

Allium vineale (wild garlic, onion grass, crow garlic or stag's garlic) is a perennial, bulb-forming species of wild onion, native to Europe, northwestern Africa and the Middle East.[2] The species was introduced in Australia and North America, where it has become a noxious weed.[3][4][5][6][7]

Crow garlic
Umbel showing bulbils and a few flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Subfamily: Allioideae
Genus: Allium
Species:
A. vineale
Binomial name
Allium vineale
Synonyms[1]

Description

All parts of the plant have a strong garlic odour. The underground bulb is 1–2 cm diameter, with a fibrous outer layer. The main stem grows to 30–120 cm tall, bearing 2–4 leaves and an apical inflorescence 2–5 cm diameter comprising a number of small bulbils and none to a few flowers, subtended by a basal bract. The leaves are slender hollow tubes, 15–60 cm long and 2–4 mm thick, waxy texture, with a groove along the side of the leaf facing the stem. The inflorescence is a tight umbel surrounded by a membranous bract in bud which withers when the flowers open. Each individual flower is stalked and has a pinkish-green perianth 2.5 to 4.5 mm (0.10 to 0.18 in) long. There are six tepals, six stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. Mixed with the flowers are several yellowish-brown 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.[8][9] Plants with no flowers, only bulbils, are sometimes distinguished as the variety Allium vineale var. compactum, but this character is probably not taxonomically significant.

Uses and problems

While Allium vineale has been suggested as a substitute for garlic, there is some difference of opinion as to whether there is an unpleasant aftertaste compared to that of common garlic (Allium sativum). It imparts a garlic-like flavour and odour on dairy and beef products when grazed by livestock. It is considered a pestilential invasive weed in the USA, as grain products may become tainted with a garlic odour or flavour in the presence of aerial bulblets at the time of harvest.[10][11][12] Wild garlic is tolerant to herbicides, which cannot cling well to the vertical, smooth and waxy structure of its leaves.[13][14]

See also

References
  1. The Plant List
  2. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Allium vineale". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. "Allium vineale". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  5. "Allium vineale". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  6. Weeds Australia, Australian Weeds Committee, Allium vineale Archived 2014-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Brewster, J. L. (2008). Onions and Other Alliums. (Wallingford: CABI Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84593-399-9.
  8. "Wild garlic: Allium vineale". NatureGate. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  9. Davies, D. (1992). Alliums: The Ornamental Onions. (Portland: Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-241-2.
  10. Eric Block, "Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science" (Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2010)
  11. James L. Brewster, "Onions and Other Alliums" (Wallingford: CABI Publishing, 2008)
  12. Dilys Davies, "Alliums: The Ornamental Onions" (Portland: Timber Press, 1992)
  13. Wild Garlic & Wild Onion. Clemson University. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  14. Block, E. (2010). Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science. (Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 978-0-85404-190-9.
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