Allium canadense
Liliaceae (lily family)
Species of Allium are among the most ancient cultivated plants. Thousands of years ago the early Babylonians, Chinese, and Egyptians noted their use for foods and medicines. Allium possibly comes from early Celtic origins; the word all meant "pungent." Canadense denotes that the plant is native to Canada or the northeastern United States. The great lily family holds many healing and ornamental plants like aloe, asparagus, daylily, and trillium.
Perhaps four hundred species of strongly odorous (when bruised) perennial bulbs in the genus Allium are native in the Northern Hemisphere. It is often hard to tell some species apart because their differences are so subtle. A. canadense is perhaps the most common and widespread species, found growing wild from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the eastern shores to the Rocky Mountains.
Traditional uses:
Wild garlic, A. canadense, is also called wild onion, wild meadow leek, prairie onion, crow onion, or Canada onion. Early explorers noted many American Indian food and medicine uses for wild onions and garlic. Archaeological evidence in North America shows that native people were eating alliums more than six thousand years ago. The Menomini and Meskwaki favored wild garlic as a choice food, especially during winter, as did many Great Lakes Indians. The Winnebago called it "shinhop," the Pawnee called it "osidiwa," and the Tewa Puebloans called it "akonsi." Indeed, there are countless Indian names for this native staple food, flavoring, and medicine. The city of Chicago is said to get its name from the Winnebago Indian word for wild leeks, shika'ko.
Wild garlic, Allium canadense, prospers in most soils, especially sandy bottomlands. It will grow up to two feet tall, bearing tiny pink star-like blossoms in top clusters during spring. Unlike many alliums, the leaves are not hollow, long, and bladelike; they grow from the base at earth level from the small, oval underground bulb. After the bloom, the top grows into numerous tiny
bulblets with long, threadlike tails. These spicy hot additions to summer foods both flavour and heal.
Field garlic, A. vineale, is an introduced species that has become widespread in the American wild. This one can grow up to three feet tall and blooms pink or white in clusters mixed with tiny bulblets.
Wild onion, A. stellatum, is also widespread across North America. Showy umbels of six-point lavender flowers top each small bulb in the spring and can stand two feet tall above grass-like green leaves.
Nodding wild onion, A. cernuum, grows across the northern regions, often in distinct colonies. Blooms top the two-foot slender stems during summer. Their classic "nodding" characteristic and delicate pink or white blossom clusters help distinguish this species.
Wild leeks, A. tricoccum also called ramps, usually produce two or three leaves in early spring. The whitish to creamy yellow blossom clusters follow in June and July. Wild leeks are often found in little clusters or colonies in cool woodlands. The leaves are noted spring vegetables, as are the more odorous bulbs.
Modern uses:
Cultivated onions, A. cepa, and garlic, A. sativum, have been garden and gourmet favourites for many centuries as well as being long acknowledged for their medicinal virtues. Modern research has confirmed their antibacterial qualities plus their ability to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Wild onion and wild garlic are antibiotic and anti-inflammatory as well as stimulating to the circulation. Eaten as foods, they help prevent colds and even tooth decay. Warmed onion or garlic oil, when dropped into the ear canal, will relieve an earache. This oil has even been used cosmetically to stimulate hair growth The alliums are valuable systemic insecticides, as eating them makes an individual less appealing to stinging and biting insects
Cautions:
The essential oils from the bulbs can be irritating.
Growth needs and propagation:
The alliums favour rich, moist earth but will grow almost anywhere, especially under cultivation. They can be propagated from both seeds and bulbs, but quicker, more robust results come from planting the bulbs, which are available from many native plant suppliers. Alliums do well in groupings of related species, such as a cluster of wild garlic and a colony of wild leeks.
Companions:
Wild onion, garlic, leeks, and nodding wild onion grow well with moccasin flower, maidenhair fern, yarrow, and many other plants in the medicine wheel garden.
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