Few-flowered garlic
Allium paradoxum
herb
⚠️ Toxic look-alike
Never eat this plant unless you are certain it is not its toxic look-alike.
Its leaves come up in spring in the same woodland as those of lily of the valley, spring snowflake and snowdrop, which are toxic, and sometimes autumn crocus: lily of the valley attacks the heart, snowflake and snowdrop cause vomiting and diarrhea, autumn crocus can kill. Few-flowered garlic has only one flat leaf per plant, which smells clearly of garlic when crushed, and a three-angled stem bearing a small cluster of green bulbils and sometimes a white bell. Lily of the valley has two broad oval leaves that smell of nothing; snowflake and snowdrop have strap-like leaves and white bells marked with green or yellow. Careful: the smell of garlic stays on your fingers; crush each leaf one by one, with clean hands.
If in the slightest doubt, leave it. If you feel unwell after eating it, even several hours later, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or 911.
A single leaf per plant, tasting of mild garlic, and small bulbils instead of flowers, raw or cooked like wild garlic.
- Origin
- Caucasus and Iran, naturalized in Europe
- Where to find it
- Escaped from gardens, it invades parks, riverbanks and damp woodland, in Edinburgh, Berlin or Moscow; in the Caucasus and Iran, it is picked for herb dishes.
- Season (United States)
- March to May
- Preparation
- The leaf is cut at ground level, without pulling up the bulb; leaves and bulbils are washed and eaten raw, or cooked for a minute at the end. Chop or crush it, then wait ten minutes before cooking: that is how long its sulfur compounds take to form.
- Molecules
- Allium sulfur compoundsIn small amounts, not counted Lutein and zeaxanthin · Chlorophyll
- Did you know?
- Paradoxical because it makes bulbils instead of seeds: a single flower, often none.