Allium 2010

[Oron Peri]

Couldn't resist showing it again, A. hierochuntinum, this time from North Jordan, not far from the border with Syria.

[TheOnionMan]

Couldn't resist showing it again, A. hierochuntinum, this time from North Jordan, not far from the border with Syria.

Oron, it is a beautiful allium, a stunning photo with the red-striped spathe!  I can see the scabrid texture of the flower midveins.  Thanks for posting this blue beauty (and the Onco pics in the Onco Iris thread -  WOW!)

[Oron Peri]

Another beauty from ten days ago from the upper Galilee, Allium asclepiadeum.

This species which grows only in one location in Israel is described in Flora Palestina as a form of A. nigrum but it is very different and lately i came to know that it is growing in Lebanon as well.

[Kristl Walek]

And, I offer up a photo of three variegated forms of Allium tricoccum found by Darrell Probst in central Massachusetts, USA, in 2009, showing varying degrees of variegation, whether white or yellow on green, or deep purple on green.  It is certainly worth checking out such plants, and if they are consistent from year to year, to consider introducing them.

I have often seen interesting variegated forms of A. tricoccum in my woodland wanderings (the Ontario woods are still packed with it, unlike Quebec, where it is now tightly regulated due to overcollecting and Nova Scotia where it is almost non-existant).  I have never bothered to bring these forms home, as it seemed odd to do so, from a horticultural perspective, considering the growth habit of the plant and the fact that the foliage being the high point, is largely gone by flowering time in summer.

I recall being in the field with someone I was training in seed collecting, but who was not familiar with the species. They could not for the life of them understand why I would carry seed of this species --- because of course all they saw at collection time was the single stalk sticking out of the earth with the seed receptacles on top. The following spring I took them again into those same woods and their jaw dropped when they saw the drifts of beautiful wide foliage.

Even in its plain green form, the foliage is beautiful...and beautiful to eat.

[TheOnionMan]

Another beauty from ten days ago from the upper Galilee, Allium esclepiadeum.

This species which grows only in one location in Israel is described in Flora Palestina as a form of A. nigrum but it is very different and lately i came to know that it is growing in Lebanon as well.

That's a stunning species, but it does raise some questions.  Allium asclepiadeum is described as occuring in Turkey and Lebanon (the type from Maras, Turkey).   In the Flora of Turkey, it is reported "Plants from N. Palestine, distinctive on account of their purple filaments and ovary and which were previously recorded as A. asclepiadeum by Feinbrun, proved after further study to be A. nigrum".  That publication is dated 1984, so the standing of this and several related species may have changed in the past 26 years.

Just found an interesting publication: "Allium elmaliense (Alliaciae), a new species from SW Anatolia, Turkey" which gives characteristics separating the new species from allied species A. cyrillii, orientale, amd asclepiadeum... all in the "nigrum complex".  The flowers are described as fragrant; Oron did you notice any fragrance?  How tall does it grow?

http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anbf41/anbf41-147.pdf

Even A. nigrum as it occurs in Israel is very different than the European forms of that widespread species, the much showier Israel plants with striking ruby-color ovaries, whereas they are dark green to blackish-green in the European forms.  In discussions I had with Dr. Reinhard Fritsch, he mentioned that the "nigrum complex" is in need of an overhaul taxonomically.  Whatever the determination is, your photos show a beautiful species, obviously attractive to pollinators... love the fancy "eyelashes" on the beetle.

[Oron Peri]

That's a stunning species, but it does raise some questions.  Alli um asclepiadeum is described as occuring in Turkey and Lebanon (the type from Maras, Turkey).   In the Flora of Turkey, it is reported "Plants from N. Palestine, distinctive on account of their purple filaments and ovary and which were previously recorded as A. asclepiadeum by Feinbrun, proved after further study to be A. nigrum".  That publication is dated 1984, so the standing of this and several related species may have changed in the past 26 years.

Just found an interesting publication: "Allium elmaliense (Alliaciae), a new species from SW Anatolia, Turkey" which gives characteristics separating the new species from allied species A. cyrillii, orientale, amd asclepiadeum... all in the "nigrum complex".  The flowers are described as fragrant; Oron did you notice any fragrance?  How tall does it grow?

http://www.sekj.org/PDF/anbf41/anbf41-147.pdf

Even A. nigrum as it occurs in Israel is very different than the European forms of that widespread species, the much showier Israel plants with striking ruby-color ovaries, whereas they are dark green to blackish-green in the European forms.  In discussions I had with Dr. Reinhard Fritsch, he mentioned that the "nigrum complex" is in need of an overhaul taxonomically.  Whatever the determination is, your photos show a beautiful species, obviously attractive to pollinators... love the fancy "eyelashes" on the beetle.

Mark
This species is only 10-20cm high while A. nigrum can reach easily 60cm., and its leaves are at least 4 times wider. not sure about fragrance...
By the way many of the bulbous plants that occur here can be often found growing in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran etc.

[TheOnionMan]

Kristl, I need to get out the house more often and traipse around the woods... never saw Allium tricoccum in such carpets.  

I have had one bulb over the past dozen years or so, it never does much, does not increase, and rarely flowers (and thus too precious to even think about dining on this sad example).  I do like the broad-leaved alliums, and have quite a bit of A. victorialis, including a couple tall forms that Paige Woodward used to sell at her Pacific Rim Nursery, although not currently listed.  These look like lily-of-the-valley on steroids, with large globes of creamy-greenish-white flowers  One of my largest and oldest clumps grows in a very wet vernal seep.  After introducing the additional clones from Pacific Rim Nursery, this species started to seed around.

[TheOnionMan]

Mark
This species is only 10-20cm high while A. nigrum can reach easily 60cm., and its leaves are at least 4 times wider. not sure about fragrance...
By the way many of the bulbous plants that occur here can be often found growing in Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran etc.

Oh, so quite short.  I guess it is a question of taxonomists duking it out, because most sites are still referring A. asclepideum as a synonym of A. nigrum as it occurs in Israel... Oron, I do believe you when you tell me it is quite different than nigrum... looking at the Allium published in the new online Flora of North America, I cringe at some of the lumping, AND some of the splitting in particular, as the ones I question I have seen extensively in the wild. 

So I just googled for a few minutes, and found some links, some showing plants that look like yours, and the USDA site that gives the range as Lebanon; Syria; Turkey.  I have in hand, two papers from the Israel Journal of Botany, both from the 1970s, where Fania Kollmann, noted Allium expert, describes A. asclepiadeum from Galilee and Mount Hermon.  So, not sure what the current accepted taxonomic status is, but it seems obviously in dispute, whether right or wrong.  Regardless, it's a beautiful species, and at only 10-20 cm, obviously NOT A. nigrum no matter who wants to call it so.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allium_nigrum_2.JPG
http://flora.huji.ac.il/static/1/59/0035591.N6WA03BU9UVV84L.010.jpg
http://flora.huji.ac.il/browse.asp?action=specie&specie=ALLNIG&fileid=27120
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?2223

[Onion]

Mark,

the two blue A. caeruleum forms are wounderful. Now I understand why my A. caeruleum never come in the second year.
Seeds available ??

[Kristl Walek]

I do love the wide-leaved shade-tolerant species---my A. victorialis is just now pushing through the soil. This one took forever to mature from seed (5-6 years??? as I recall). I have many forms of it, but do question the standing of the varieties.

Allium tricoccum is one of my favorite culinary species. I can fully understand why so many woods have been stripped of it. Utterly delicious---and of course very ephemeral in how long it is available, making it even more desireable. Although it is called "Wild Leek", to my palette it is a tangy garlic flavour. I have rarely eaten the bulbs (as I am loathe to destroy the colonies), so I can't remember if the taste is similar.

Also takes a very long time to mature from seed.

I am presently clearing a small woodland in the back of my new property in Nova Scotia. Here will get scattered all my remaining A. tricoccum seed collected in Ontario last year, along with all the other native woodland plants that are scarce, rare or nonexistant in Nova Scotia.

[TheOnionMan]

I do love the wide-leaved shade-tolerant species---my A. victorialis is just now pushing through the soil. This one took forever to mature from seed (5-6 years??? as I recall). I have many forms of it, but do question the standing of the varieties.

I side with the opinion and current taxonomic standing that there are no valid varieties of A. victorialis... yes it is variable as one would expect from a circumpolar species, yet it stands quite unique in the Allium world and is always recognizeable as that species... the natural variability easily encompassing the varieties.

[TheOnionMan]

Mark,

the two blue A. caeruleum forms are wounderful. Now I understand why my A. caeruleum never come in the second year.
Seeds available ??

Uli, mine made no seeds in the last couple years that I've had this fine form, although it does make the small basal bulblets which can be used for propagation.  Not sure about the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden form, which I do not have.

[Stephenb]

Re: Allium victorialis

At the botanical gardens in Tromsø, they have about 20 accessions of Allium victorialis from the Caucasus, Northern Spain, Japan, Kola (North west Russia) and several from the naturalised populations in the Lofoten Islands. I posted some pictures last year in this thread:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3874.0

They are working on describing this material in an attempt to solve the riddle as to where the Norwegian naturalised populations originate (concentrated on one island in the Lofoten Islands, otherwise spread via fishermen taking part in the Lofoten cod fisheries). One theory is that the vikings introduced and cultivated this onion. In fact the biggest populations are found around the reconstructed Viking longhouse and farm at Borg ( http://www.lofotr.no/Engelsk/en_index.html). They have recently constructed a viking onion garden here. Here's a picture from my visit last summer with Allium victorialis:

[Stephenb]

I have had one bulb over the past dozen years or so, it never does much, does not increase, and rarely flowers (and thus too precious to even think about dining on this sad example).  

Interesting - I also have one very sad bulb (I bet it's sadder than yours!). I've tried this species many times from seed and, apart from this one, it doesn't like my conditions. I've only once seen it in botanical gardens in Europe - that was at Kew and it looked happy there (picture below), growing together with Allium ursinum. Is it a calcifuge, perhaps? There's currently no nursery in the UK offering this species (RHS Plant Finder), something I find strange...

[Kristl Walek]

I've tried this species many times from seed and, apart from this one, it doesn't like my conditions. I've only once seen it in botanical gardens in Europe - that was at Kew and it looked happy there (picture below), growing together with Allium ursinum. Is it a calcifuge, perhaps? There's currently no nursery in the UK offering this species (RHS Plant Finder), something I find strange...

No, Stephen. It is most certainly not a calcifuge!!!  In *very* alkaline Ontario, it covered miles of woodland where it was happy. Here in very acid Nova Scotia it is almost non-existant. Dry, deciduous, alkaline woodlands is the preferred habitat in the wild. I have a standing order for 2km of seed to be custom collected for a large European seedhouse for this season---so hopefully it will make it's way into the nursery trade across the ocean soon. It remains, from year to year, my best selling allium species, which I suppose attests to the many chefs among my clients.