| Black garlic | |
|---|---|
_Bot._Mag._29._1148._1809.jpg) | |
| 1809 illustration (asAllium magicum) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Allium |
| Subgenus: | Alliumsubg. Melanocrommyum |
| Species: | A. nigrum |
| Binomial name | |
| Allium nigrum L., not All. (1785) nor Sm. (1823) nor M. Bieb. (1808) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Synonymy
| |
Allium nigrum, common nameblack garlic,broad-leaved leek,[2] orbroadleaf garlic, is aMiddle Eastern species ofwild onion. It lacks the onion or garlic scent shared by most of the other species in the group. The species is native toTurkey,Cyprus,Syria,Lebanon, and thePalestine region but cultivated as an ornamental in many other places.[1] It has become naturalized in some regions, including parts of theUnited States (especiallyWashington andOregon).[3][4]
Allium nigrum produces asymmetric bulbs up to 5 cm across. Each plant has 3-6 leaves, lanceolate in shape, flat and bent to the side, up to 60 cm long and 2.5 cm across. Later the leaves become reflexed.Scapes are smooth and round in cross-section, 80–100 cm tall. The scape carries a dense umbellate inflorescence with star-like flowers up to 9 mm across; thetepals are white with a green midvein; theanthers are purple or yellow. Theovaries are black-green (but flushed with red in theLevant) inanthesis, but green when younger or following anthesis.[3][4][5][6][7]
It is thetype species ofSubgenus (Section)Melanocrommyum. Molecular evidence suggests thatA. nigrum is apolymorphous species consisting of severalinfraspecific groups.[8]
Alliances:[8]
Allium nigrum alliance:Allium nigrumL. andA. multibulbosumJacq. have often been treated asvariants within a variableA. nigrumsensu lato. The type variant,A. nigrumsensu stricto is characterised by rose oblong tepals, rose filaments, and distinctly tri-sulcate, strongly coarse, dull, permanently green ovaries, whileA. multibulbosum have white to pinkish-carmine, oblong tepals, filaments of the same color as tepals, but rounded, narrowly hexasulcate, smooth and commonly glossy ovaries. The latter commonly turn green from black, but some are permanently green. These variants are in asister group relationship. TheWorld Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCLSPF) treat these as separate species.[1][9]
However,Allium basalticum has been considered sufficiently distinct onmolecular grounds, to be recognised as a new separate species.[10] Another distinct species isAllium dumetorum.[11][8]
Allium asclepiadeum alliance:Allium asclepiadeumBornm. was initially considered a separate species, but then submerged inA. nigrum. It has again been treated as a separate species based on molecular data, but under the new name ofAllium meronense Fragman & R.M. Fritsch. WCLSPF, while accepting this new species,[12] have retainedA. asclepiadeum as a separate species.[13][8]
Allium orientale alliance: descriptions ofAllium orientaleBoiss. have varied, resulting in the name being applied to a variety of different plants, a concept not supported by molecular data which indicateAllium israeliticum Fragman & R.M. Fritsch, as a distinct new species. WCLSPF recognises both as distinct species.[14][15][8]
The namenigrum (Latin: black) is derived from the colour of the ovaries.[7]
The plant is a frequent ornamental in European and North American gardens, having been introduced in the early twentieth century.[7] It is produced inTaean andSeosan in South Korea.
