Broad pointed leaves each on its own stalk from the ground, and an umbel of white six-pointed stars on a stem triangular in section
Ramsons — Allium ursinum, wild garlic.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Ramsons
Flowers April to May
Allium ursinum — Amaryllidaceae
Ramsons, better known to foragers as wild garlic, is the broad-leaved onion relative that floods damp ancient woodland with white star-flowers and an unmistakable reek in April and May. It is an ancient-woodland indicator and the source of a hundred restaurant pestos. It also causes the most dangerous mix-up in British foraging, because its leaves grow among those of lily-of-the-valley and lords-and-ladies, both of which are poisonous.
How to spot them
- ▸Broad, pointed, elliptical leaves, each rising singly on its own long stalk straight from the ground
- ▸The whole colony reeks of allium when the leaves are trodden on — the one decisive test
- ▸A rounded umbel of white six-tepalled stars on a leafless stalk that is triangular in cross-section
- ▸Damp, shaded, base-rich woodland and stream banks, April to May, often in continuous carpets
- ▸Dies back by midsummer; an indicator of ancient woodland
How to know it
Its leaves are lethally confused with those of lily-of-the-valley and lords-and-ladies; the smell is the only safe test
Ramsons — Convallaria majalis contains cardiac glycosides and Arum maculatum is an irritant poison.
Its epithet means 'of the bear', from the story that brown bears dig up the bulbs on waking
Allium ursinum — ramsons, also called bear's garlic.
Its Old English name, hramsa, survives in place names such as Ramsbottom and Ramsey
Ramsons.
An ancient-woodland indicator of damp base-rich soils that dies back entirely by midsummer
Ramsons.
A member of the Amaryllidaceae, in the same genus as the onion, leek and chive
Ramsons — Allium ursinum.
The invasive three-cornered leek is often taken for it, but has drooping bell flowers with a green stripe
Allium triquetrum, listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, versus ramsons.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae; genus Allium, with onion, garlic, leek and chive
- •ursinum means 'of the bear'; German Bärlauch and Dutch daslook preserve the same idea
- •The English name comes from Old English hramsa; Ramsbottom, Ramsey and Ramsholt are among the place names derived from it
- •Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) is the dangerous confusion: it contains cardiac glycosides, and its two leaves rise together from a single sheath rather than singly on separate stalks
- •Lords-and-ladies (Arum maculatum) has arrow-shaped leaves and calcium oxalate crystals that burn the mouth
- •The flower stalk (scape) is triangular in cross-section, unlike the round stems of many alliums
- •The three-cornered leek, Allium triquetrum, is an invasive non-native listed on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
- •An ancient-woodland indicator across much of Britain; carpets can cover hectares in old damp woods
Drill it — 8 cards
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Sources
- Woodland Trust — Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)
- The Wildlife Trusts — Ramsons