Spring foraging - wild onions vs wild leeks?

[KateSheridan]

Hi all. I've just begun my spring foraging (I'm in Michigan USA, near the lake) and wondered if anyone had a fool-proof distinction between wild leeks (ramps) and wild onions, or even if it makes any difference. I know the flowers are different colors and they bloom at different times, but is there any definite distinction between them really?

Thanks. I am an avid forager and do onions/leeks all year. They are up now and I've transplanted some leeks to my flower garden up front to see what will happen. So much easier to grab a handful from the front yard than to haul on the boots and head out to the woods every time!

kate ;-)

www.gardenandhearth.com/RuralLiving.htm

[ina]

I wish something like that would grow wild here! I think there's some wild garlic in places, but onions and leek? Seeing that I use a lot of both, I could save a fortune!

[Millymollymandy]

I think the only thing I know is wild garlic!

[KateSheridan]

What a shame not to have wild leeks and onions! Why would that be? Maybe we're talking about the same plant? When I master the art of linking photos, I'll try to shoot a few of what I'm talking about and link them. What does your wild garlic look like and what do you eat of it?

I always thought wild garlic had fewer and slightly larger little florets and had a more tubular stem? My wild leeks have thicker leaves, maybe two inches wide, very green in spring, then the foliage fades off and what's left is a thin stem that supports the flowers. These grow in my woods and on my hillside right at the edge of the woods (so it is shaded) and I find them mostly at the base of trees

My wild onions grow in the sun and have pinkish flowers that bloom later than the leeks.

I'll have a little article up about them soon and will pass it along! Anything you can add will be very appreciated.
kate

www.gardenandhearth.com/RuralLiving.htm

[KateSheridan]

The article is just up today -- Wild Leeks and Onions -- A Forager's White Gold.
They are growing by leaps and bounds as we speak. It's very damp and foggy here today.

http://www.gardenandhearth.com/RuralLiving/Leeks.htm


kate

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks for the latin names. What we are talking about is Allium ursinum also known as wild garlic or bear's garlic or ransomes.

I have googled Allium tricoccum and A. Stellatum. I think they are only found in the US!