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.
| Wild leek | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Allium |
| Species: | A. ampeloprasum
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| Binomial name | |
| Allium ampeloprasum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Species synonymy
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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, Pakistan, 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.[2][3][4][5][6] In tidewater Virginia, where it is commonly known as the "Yorktown onion", it is protected by law in York County.[7]
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.[8][9]
Allium ampeloprasum has been differentiated into three cultivated vegetables, namely leek, elephant garlic and kurrat.
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.[3][10]
Vegetables
Allium ampeloprasum comprises several vegetables, of which the most important ones are:
- leek
- elephant garlic or great-headed garlic
- pearl onion
- kurrat,[8][11] Egyptian leek or salad leek – this variety has small bulbs, and primarily the leaves are eaten.
- Persian leek (Allium ampeloprasum ssp. persicum)
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Just beginning to flower
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Fully flowered
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Allium ampeloprasum - MHNT
Research
Flavonoids, terpenoids, triterpenes, and tannins are the major chemical constituents of Allium ampeloprasum. Antioxidant, hypoglycemic, hypoglipidemic and anti-hemorrhoid effects of Allium ampeloprasum are investigated in medical researchs. However there is insufficient evidence to support its use in the mentioned diseases.[12][13]
See also
References
- ^ The Plant List
- ^ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Allium ampeloprasum
- ^ a b Flora of North America v 26 p 238, Allium ampeloprasum'
- ^ BONAP (Biota of North America Program) floristic synthesis, Allium ampeloprasum'
- ^ Flora of China v 24 p 200, Allium porrum
- ^ Altervista, Schede di Botanica
- ^ Yorktown Onion. York County, Virginia.
- ^ a b Allium ampeloprasum. Plants for a Future
- ^ CHRISTOPHER D. PRESTON, DAVID A. PEARMAN, ALLAN R. HALL (2004) Archaeophytes in Britain Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (3), 257–294 doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00284.x, p. 264
- ^ Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) i–910. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.
- ^ Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.
- ^ "Topical Allium ampeloprasum subsp Iranicum (Leek) extract cream in patients with symptomatic hemorrhoids: a pilot randomized and controlled clinical trial". PMID 25608984.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Effect of hydroalcoholic Allium ampeloprasum extract on oxidative stress, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia in alloxan-induced diabetic rats". PMID 28011384.
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