| Description | Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum) is a perennial herbaceous wild flowers that grow from an edible bulb. They are epimeral blooming in the early spring. |
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| Pronunciation | (AL-ee-um)(try-KOK-um) |
| Plant Type | Perennials Hardy, Bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizoms, etc., Wild Flowers |
| Hardiness Zone | (4)5-7(8) |
| Sunlight | These plants are epimeral growing in deciduous woods. So they are in the full early-spring sun and shade as the leaves unfold. |
| Moisture | average to moist |
| Soil & Site | Grows best in rich, moist soils. |
| Temperature | Flowers emerge from a papery sheath, forming a terminal umbel of white flowers. The scape is a smooth, leafless stalk. Each tiny flower has three sepals, three petals, and a papery bract at its base. |
| Flowers | A leafless, smooth, reddish flower stalk appears after the leaves have died back. A terminal umbel of tiny white flowers forms at the tip of the stalk. Each tiny floret has three sepals and three petals. Bees and syrphid flies will pollinate it. After pollination, a shiny, hard black seed will form in each of the 3-celled seed capsules. |
| Fruit | A three-capsuled fruit. |
| Leaves | The broadly lance-shaped green leaves grow from the bulb in early spring, then die back in the summer as the tree's leaves unfold and the flowers appear. The petiole of the leaf is reddish and has a papery sheath at its base. The height is about 8 inches |
| Stems | The stems are modified into a conic bulb. They are covered with a fibrous mesh and have fleshy white roots from the base of the bulb. These bulbs are edible, tasting like spring bulbs, and have a garlic smell. |
| Dimensions | Reaches about 8 inches tall, forming tight clumps. |
| Propagation | It can be propagated by seeds, divisions, or bulbs. " A warm, moist period is required to break root dormancy and a subsequent cold period to break shoot dormancy, so the seeds may have to go through two winters before seedlings appear in the spring if the initial fall season is not long and moist enough." (#284) |
| Native Site | Found in moist, Eastern North American forests, they thrive in shaded, moist, nutrient-rich, mature hardwood forests, often near streams, |
| Misc Facts | Wild Leeks, also called "ramps," are a popular edible bulbs. Often compared to spring onions. |
| Notes & Reference | #284-University of Wisconsin-Madison (hort.extension.wisc.edu), #274-Site Authors' observations in the wild of Allium tricoccum |
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