Broadleaf Wild Leek

Foodplant / parasite
telium of Uromyces ambiguus parasitises Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii

Normally the umbel of Allium ampeloprasum has no bulbils, but there are some variants with a few flowers that produce bulbils. The species has been reported as established in New England and adjacent Canada and can be found along roadsides and in other disturbed areas. It is probably conspecific with A. porrum Linnaeus, the leek of commerce. Allium porrum can be distinguished from A. ampeloprasum based on its unique bulb morphology and chemistry from centuries of cultivation and selection.

Bulbs 1–3+, variable, some with poorly developed bulbs, others ovoid with 1–2 large bulbs and several yellowish to light brown bulbels at base, 0.4–1(–3) × 0.4–1(–1.5) cm; outer coat enclosing 1 or more bulbs, yellowish, membranous; inner coats white to light brown, cells not evident, fibers ± parallel, few. Leaves withering from tips by anthesis, 6–9, sheathing 1/3–1/2 scape; blade solid, flat, channeled, 1–5 cm × 2–20(–30) mm, margins scabrid. Scape persistent, solitary, erect, fistulose, terete, 45–180 cm × 3–7 mm. Umbel persistent, erect, compact, to 500-flowered, few-flowered in variants with bulbils, globose; spathe bracts persistent, 3–5, 2–3-veined, lanceolate, ± equal, apex abruptly narrowed to beak, beak to 10 cm. Flowers urceolate, 4–5.5 mm; tepals erect, white, pink, or dark red, unequal, becoming papery and investing capsule in fruit; outer tepal oblong-lanceolate, margins entire, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronate; inner tepal narrowly ovate to spatulate, margins entire, apex obtuse; stamens equaling perianth or exserted; outer filaments simple, inner with 2 prominent lateral teeth that exceed anther-bearing portion, glabrous; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow; ovary crestless; style linear, equaling stamens; stigma capitate, scarcely thickened, unlobed; pedicel 15–50 mm. Seed coat not known.

introduced; Europe; Asia; n Africa.

Flowering Apr--Jul.

Roadsides and other disturbed areas; 0--100m.

Allium ampeloprasum, commonly known as broadleaf or wild leek, is a monocot bulbous perennial native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa (USDA GRIN 2011). (The North American wild leek is a different species—Allium tricoccum.) This species is the progenitor of three cultivated vegetables, namely leek or garden leek (A. porrum), elephant or great-headed garlic (A. ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum), and kurrat (A. kurrat), the Middle-Eastern cultivated leek (Block 2011), which differ in chromosome number but are interfertile. A fourth group, the pearl onion, is also included in this species. (See Wikipedia article in the full entry for a list of other names and varieties.) The species name is derived from the Greek “ampelo” (vine), and “prason” (leek)—indicating an Allium that grows in vineyards (Block 2011). The Latin word for leek is “porrum,” which is the name assigned by Linnaeus to the cultivated species of leek, and is the root of the French term for it (“poireau”). A. ampeloprasum does not normally produce bulbs, although in variety ampeloprasum (elephant garlic), it may produce a head of cloves like garlic (A. sativum) but with two sizes of cloves—a bulb of cloves like garlic, surrounded by smaller cloves on the outside or the bulbs may be on short stolons (Brewster 1994). Horticultural varieties have been selected and developed for different characteristics. In leeks, the leaf bases form long, edible “pseudostems” made of concentric rings of the leaf bases, whereas in the kurrat, the pseudostems are short and the focus is on eating the leaves. Elephant garlic (A. ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is used for the bulb rather than leaves, which typically has a milder flavor than garlic (A. sativum). Although typically with two sizes of cloves, it may produce only a single large clove. This is sometimes confused with the single-bulb cultivar of commerce, but that cultivar, from China, appears more closely related to onion (Allium cepa; Figliuolo and DiStefano 2007). The pearl onion, cultivated primarily in home gardens, is similar to a small leek, but does not have pronounced pseudostem; instead, it produces a cluster of small, almost perfectly round bulbs. In many Allium species, the flower (often an umbel) produces bulbils, which appear to be small cloves within a bulb. A. ampeloprasum typically does not produce bulbils, although a few varieties may. Allium ampeloprasum has escaped cultivation in North America and is naturalized in New England and adjacent areas in Canada (eFloras.org 2011), as well as the southeastern states and as far west as Texas, and in California. However, it is not considered particularly invasive, except in Arkansas, where all Allium species are classified as noxious weeds (USDA PLANTS 2011). It is an “environmental weed” in parts of Australia (Groves et al. 2005).

Hirschegger et al. (2010) undertook a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the section Allium (in subgenus Allium), which includes economically important species such as garlic and leek as well as other polyploid minor crops. They focused in particular on inferring the origins of the several horticultural groups of 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 become naturalized in many countries.

Allium ampeloprasum is regarded as native to all the countries bordering on 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 (all states except Queensland and Tasmania), Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the United States (southeastern region plus California, New York State, Ohio and Illinois), Galápagos, and Argentina. In tidewater Virginia, where it is commonly known as the "Yorktown onion", it is protected by law in York County.

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.

Allium ampeloprasum has been differentiated into five cultivated vegetables, namely leek, elephant garlic, pearl onion, kurrat, and Persian leek.

Wild populations produce bulbs up to 3 cm across. Scapes are round in cross-section, each up to 180 cm tall, bearing an umbel of as many as 500 flowers. Flowers are urn-shaped, up to 6 mm across; tepals white, pink or red; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow.