Great round-headed garlic, Giant garlic
Allium ampeloprasum

Family: Amaryllidaceae

What it is like

An onion family plant with a bulb. It grows to 1.2 m high and spreads 10 cm wide. The leaves are flat and shaped like a keel. This is a variable species which includes leeks, great headed garlic and kurrat. The bulbs can be 2-6 cm wide. The flowers are in a round head and are white, purple or red. The flowers are bell shaped and 4-5.5 mm long. The flower heads may have 500 flowers and be 5-9 cm across.

Probably the wild ancestor of salad leek and common leek. There are about 300-700 Allium species. Most species of Allium are edible (Flora of China). All alliums are edible but they may not all be worth eating! They have also been put in the family Alliaceae.

Where it is found

It is a temperate and Mediterranean climate plant. It grows naturally in rocky places near the coast in S.W. England and Wales. It is common around the Mediterranean. It prefers a sunny position in a light well drained soil. It tolerates a pH in the range 5.2 to 8.3. It does not suit moist climates. It suits hardiness zones 6-9. It can tolerate frosts. In Hobart Botanical gardens. Tasmania Herbarium.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Balkans, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Britain, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Caucasus, Chile, China, Colombia, Crete, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Europe, France, Georgia, Greece, Haiti, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, North Africa, North America, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Sicily, Sinai, Slovenia, South America, Spain, Syria, Tanzania, Tasmania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, West Africa, Yugoslavia

How it is used for food

The bulbs are eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are eaten raw or cooked. The leaves are used for sarma in Turkey. They are rolled around a filling of rice or minced meat. They are also used in cheese making. The flowers are used raw or to flavour cooked foods. The seeds are milled and added to foods. The small bulbs or bulbils can be used for flavouring or pickles.

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.

Edible parts

Flowers, leaves, roots, bulbils, bulbs, vegetable, seeds

How it is grown

Plants can be grown from seed or by division of clumps or from bulbils.

Its other names

Local names

Ajo porro, Ajos de vibora, Bawang sayuran, Broad-leaf wild Leek, Cipodde carrare, Divlji luk, Elephant Garlic, Htan-kyetthun, Krakoremen, Levant garlic, Lukovac, Pirasa, Pivazok, Por, Poriluk, Prasa, Prasi, Purriettu, Puorru sarvaggiu, Riddidde,Sirdim, Sirik, Sirika penir, Sirim, Sirvask, Sorum, Summe, Wild leek, Yabani sarimsak

Synonyms

Allium adscendens Kunth Allium albescens Guss. Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii (Borrer) Syme Allium ampeloprasum var. bertolonii (De Not.) Nyman Allium ampeloprasum var. bulbiferum Syme Allium ampeloprasum var. bulgaricum Podp. Allium ampeloprasum var. caudatum Pamp. Allium ampeloprasum subsp. euampeloprasum Hayek [Invalid] Allium ampeloprasum var. gasparrinii (Guss.) Nyman Allium ampeloprasum var. gracile Cavara Allium ampeloprasum subsp. halleri Nyman Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense Asch. & Graebn.; Allium ampeloprasum f. holmense (Asch. & Graebn.) Holmboe; Allium ampeloprasum subsp. porrum (L.) Hayek; Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.) J. Gay; Allium ampeloprasum var. pylium (De Not.) Asch. & Graebn.; Allium ampeloprasum subsp. thessalum (Boiss.) Nyman; Allium ampeloprasum var. wiedemannii Regel; Allium ascendens Ten.; Allium babingtonii Borrer; Allium bertolonii De Not.; Allium byzantinum K.Koch; Allium duriaeanum Regel [Illegitimate]; Allium durieuanum Walp.; Allium gasparrinii Guss.; Allium halleri G.Don [Illegitimate]; Allium holmense Mill. ex Kunth; Allium kurrat Schweinf. ex K. Krause; Allium laetum Salisb.; Allium lineare Mill. [Illegitimate]; Allium porraceum Gray; Allium porrum L.; Allium porrum var. ampeloprasum (L.) Mirb.; Allium porrum subsp. euampeloprasum Breistr.; Allium porrum var. kurrat (Schweinf. ex K.Krause) Seregin; Allium pylium De Not.; Allium scopulicola Font Quer; Allium scorodoprasum subsp. babingtonii (Borrer) Nyman; Allium spectabile De Not.; Allium syriacum Boiss.; Allium thessalum Boiss.; Porrum amethystinum Rchb.; Porrum ampeloprasum (L.) Mill.; Porrum commune Rchb.; Porrum sativum Mill.; Allium porrum L. is derived from this plant