Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, wild cowleek, ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant 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 and garlic, all belonging to the same genus, Allium.
Taken earlier this month in the edible garden part of the Museum Gardens, its scent reminds me of woodland walks with our daughters when they were still children, and they called this a 'spaghetti plant' because it reminded them of our frequent spaghetti meals at that time.
The leaves of wild garlic 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 in lieu of basil. 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 bulbs and flowers are also edible.
Fabulous detail. We saw lots of these in Devon, with signs saying we should not pick the wild garlic! I'm not sure I agree! Kate Humble said as long as you only take enough for your own use its OK.
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Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
To me wild garlic is a reminder of spring walks in woodland.
Ian