Wild garlic

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Wild garlic
Wild garlic (Allium ursinum)

Wild garlic ( Allium ursinum )

Systematics
Order : Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family : Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
Subfamily : Leek family (Allioideae)
Tribe : Allieae
Genre : Leek ( allium )
Type : Wild garlic
Scientific name
Allium ursinum
L.

The wild garlic ( Allium ursinum ) is a type of plant from the genus Allium and thus related to chives , onions and garlic . The plant species, which is widespread in Europe and parts of Asia, especially in forests and which sprouts early in the year, is a valued wild vegetable and is widely collected. Wild garlic is also Ramsons , garlic spinach , wild garlic , forest garlic , Rinsenknoblauch , Dog garlic , witches onion , gypsy leeks , Ramsen or forest Herre called.

description

Illustration from Flora Batava , Volume 11
inflorescence
Detailed view of the radial symmetry, threefold flowers
In protected locations, wild garlic sprouts out of the snow in March

The wild garlic is a perennial herbaceous plant that reaches a height of about 20 to 30 centimeters. The very slender, elongated onion is formed from the roots of the two leaves and is 2 to 4, rarely up to 6 centimeters long. It is surrounded by transparent, whitish or yellowish skins, which are later reduced to a few bristles. Side onions are only sporadically formed or they are completely absent. The upright, compact inflorescence stalk is triangular to almost round and only leafed at the base.

The mostly two, rarely one or three basal leaves have a 5 to 20 millimeter long stalk and widen abruptly into the 2 to 5 centimeter wide, flat, elliptical-lanceolate leaf blade . The upper side of the leaf is shiny and darker green than the dull underside. Its smell is typically leek-like.

The flowering period extends from April to May. The inflorescence is enclosed by a two- or three-lobed, pointed ovoid-elongated envelope, which is as long or longer as the flower stalks and soon falls off. The fragrant, few to more than twenty flowers are in a flat umbel, bulbs are always missing. The straight flower stalks are up to 2 inches long. The hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and threefold. The pure white perigone consists of six linear-lanceolate, 8 to 10 millimeter long bracts , which can be pointed or blunt and stand upright. The subtle stamens are about half as long as the bracts and fused at the base. The stylus ends with a simple scar. The fruit stalks are slightly swollen directly under the perigone, the ovary is deeply triple furrowed.

The capsule fruit contains few seeds.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

ingredients

Fresh leaves contain around 0.005% allicin , dried leaves around 0.07%. Fresh material contains around 0.5% alliin and 0.07% methyl-L-cysteine ​​sulfoxide . In addition to these sulfur-containing compounds, there are also flavonoids , traces of prostaglandins A, B and F, and leaf-specific lectins .

Distribution and locations

Wild garlic aspect in the beech forest
Wild garlic in bloom
Fruit with seeds

The wild garlic is distributed in almost all of Europe with the exception of the evergreen, Mediterranean region and the Hungarian lowlands as far as Western Asia (Asia Minor, Caucasus). It thrives at altitudes from sea level to 1900 meters (pre-Alps). In the Allgäu Alps , it rises in the Inner Höfats- Tobel in Bavaria at altitudes of up to 1,400 meters.

In Germany, wild garlic grows particularly in the south and less often in the north. It prefers basin areas and the floodplain areas of larger rivers. In Brandenburg and Hamburg , wild garlic is on the Red List in category 1 (threatened with extinction). In Bremen it is considered extremely rare and in Schleswig-Holstein it is classified as potentially endangered (category 4). In Austria it occurs frequently to dispersed, very strong in the Leithagebirge , in East Tyrol it is absent, in the western and southern Alpine region of Austria it is endangered. In Switzerland, occurrences in lower and middle areas have also been proven.

The wild garlic is not indigenous to all locations where it occurs in the form of large stocks. In some places it has spread independently from artificial plantings and is therefore a stinzen plant . In the north of Schleswig-Holstein and in the Taunus this could be proven on the basis of several occurrences.

It is found partly in large stands in shady, moist and humus-rich alluvial forests and deciduous forests, in floodplains , ravines, under bushes or on streams. The wild garlic is a nutrient pointer, appreciates deep and humus- rich , loose, persistently moist soils . Together with the wood anemone , the yellow star , the spring knot flower and the lark's spur , it belongs to the Corydalis group, which is characteristic of moderately moist to moist, lime-rich soils. Preferred forest companies are maple -, ash -, oaks - or elm - mixed forests , in which it at a corresponding soil conditions a differentiating lime and nutrient-rich soils. It occurs particularly frequently in wild garlic beech forests (lime beech forests or brown mullet beech forests) and its natural distribution is tied to oceanic climates or protected locations. In such geophyte-rich forest communities, the leaves of the wild garlic cover the entire forest floor in early spring. The wild garlic is only found scattered in Central Europe, but is often found in large numbers.

ecology

Two to three months after budding, the leaves turn yellow due to the warming of the upper soil layer, giving off the typical garlic odor. During this time, the seeds must be developed or enough nutrients must be stored in the onions for the next spring to sprout.

Spread

The seeds of the wild garlic carry elaiosomes , but are not spread by ants . Wild garlic spreads through the adherence of clay soil on animal feet ( epizoochory ). This also explains the often very patchy appearance of wild garlic. In maple-ash forests and hardwood alluvial forests, running water is also a possible medium for spreading. Wild garlic produces a lot of seeds, one square meter of wild garlic can produce 9000 seeds per year.

It is a cold germer , so the seeds must have gone through a period of frost before they germinate . Despite its long germination period of two years, wild garlic multiplies quickly via its bulbs and thus forms large clumps within a few years . When growing in the garden, the population must therefore occasionally be contained.

Food relations

Larva of Cheilosia fasciata in the leaf.

The two hoverflies Cheilosia fasciata and Portevinia maculata should be mentioned among the insects that use wild garlic as host and food plants . The larvae of the first-mentioned species mine in the leaves of the wild garlic, those of the second species in the petiole.

Diseases

Wild garlic is attacked by the rust fungi Melampsora allii-fragilis , Melampsora allii-populina , Melampsora salicis-albae and Puccinia sessilis var. Sessilis with spermogonia and aecidia and Puccinia allii with uredia and telia .

Systematics

The species name Allium ursinum was first published in 1753 by Carl von Linné in Species Plantarum . Synonyms for Allium ursinum L. are: Aglitheis ursina (L.) Raf. , Cepa ursina (L.) Bernh. , Geboscon ursinum (L.) Raf. , Hylogeton ursinum (L.) Salisb. , Ophioscorodon ursinum (L.) Wallr.

The type of epithet goes back to the Latin adjective ursinus , Bär-, Bären- and was used for the wild garlic in the pre-Linnean times. Pliny the Elder already referred to the wild garlic as allium ursinum , Johann Bauhin as allium ursinum bifolium vernum sylvaticum . It is not known where the naming of the bear comes from.

In addition to the nominate form Allium ursinum  subsp. ursinum with rough flower stalks is found in the east of the range, the subspecies Allium ursinum subsp. ucrainicum , which is characterized by smooth flower stalks.

Common names

Other names for wild garlic, some of which are only used regionally, are or were: Bärenknuflak ( Göttingen ), Germsel , Hollauch ( Middle High German ), Hollouch (Middle High German ), Großer Knoblauch (Middle High German), Kremser ( Aargau ), Paules (Middle High German), Rämsche ( Low German ), Rämsen (Göttingen), Rämtern ( Entlebuch , Bern ), Rame ( Old High German ), Rames-adra (Old High German), Rames-öre (Old High German), Rampen , Rampsen , Ramsche (Göttingen), Ramsen ( Allgäu ), Rambs ( Silesia ), Ramisch (Silesia), Ramsel (Silesia, Thuringia ), Ramser (Silesia, Bern, Middle High German), Ramseren , Ransericht (Silesia), Räpschala ( St. Gallen near Sargans ), Ränze (Aargau), Räzschala (St. Gallen ), Remese (Middle High German), Remsa (St. Gallen, Upper Rhine ), Remschala (St. Gallen near Sargans), Remsen (Göttingen) and Gypsy garlic (St. Gallen near Werdenberg ). There are also wild garlic deposits in Sweden and Norway (here only in protected locations) under the name Ramslök or Ramsløk / Ramslauk based on the Middle High German name, which was then adopted by Carl von Linné .

use

Wild garlic in the kitchen

Young wild garlic leaves
Freshly picked wild garlic

The wild garlic is a well-known vegetable , spice and medicinal plant . The plant is completely edible, but mainly the leaves, often with the stems, are used fresh as a spice, for dipping sauces , herb butter and pesto or, more generally, as a vegetable in the spring kitchen. The leaves are harvested in March and April. Bear's garlic kimchi produced by lactic acid fermentation can also be preserved for many months.

The sulfur-containing substances are changed by the action of heat, which means that the wild garlic loses much of its characteristic taste. Therefore it is usually mixed raw and chopped up with salads or other dishes. In spring, wild garlic can also replace chives or onion herbs.

The use of the buds for the production of wild garlic capers is not so well known .

Risk of confusion with poisonous plants

Wild garlic and its poisonous doppelgangers

Despite the easy identification by the garlic-like smell that arises when the leaves are rubbed, inexperienced collectors repeatedly confuse wild garlic with the lily of the valley , the leaves of the autumn crocus that sprout in spring or the mostly unspotted leaves of younger plants of the spotted arum . These three plants are extremely poisonous and poisoning occurs again and again, sometimes with fatal results. In addition to the smell, the underside of the leaf is another way of distinguishing wild garlic from poisonous lilies of the valley and autumn crocus. With wild garlic, the underside of the leaves is always matt, with lily of the valley and autumn crocus it is shiny. A characteristic feature for differentiating between wild garlic and spotted arum is the different leaf veins of both plants. Wild garlic leaves are parallel-veined, spotted arum leaves are network-veined. The non-toxic miracle leek with a wild garlic odor comes from the same genus Allium and is sometimes referred to as Berlin wild garlic or strange leek.

Medical use

In the Middle Ages, wild garlic was called Herba Salutaris and was used as a medicinal and food plant. It has been thought to have disastrous properties. Because of its useful properties, it is listed in the country estate ordinance Capitulare de villis Charlemagne under the useful plants and medicinal herbs to be planted. In the work De materia medica by Pedanios Dioscurides , it is described as one of the types of onions as detoxifying.

In folk medicine , wild garlic is used today for gastrointestinal disorders, due to its antibacterial effect against fermentation dyspepsia and as a carminative . Other areas of application are as antihypertensive and antiarteriosclerotic . It is said to have a digestive, detoxifying, antimicrobial and circulatory stimulating effect, some of which has been confirmed in pharmacological tests. Alcoholic extracts showed an inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation . It has also been shown to be effective as an ACE inhibitor and antibacterial effect.

The main ingredients of wild garlic with a pharmacological effect are various sulfur-containing compounds such as alliin and methiin , which form low-molecular organic disulfides when they break down , which are responsible for the characteristic odor. In addition, the high content of phenols and saponins is worth mentioning.

Legal situation (Germany)

Wild garlic is not under nature protection, but collecting within nature reserves and natural monuments is only permitted if the corresponding protection ordinance allows it.

According to Paragraph 39 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act , wild garlic also enjoys a minimum level of protection outside of protected areas, which prohibits "taking or using wild plants from their location without a reasonable reason or knocking down their stocks or devastating them in any other way" as well as their "habitats affect or destroy ". The plants may only be collected for personal use; the commercial use of wild garlic stocks, on the other hand, requires official approval.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Otto Schmeil, Wilhelm J. Fischer (arr.): Botanicals . Second volume. 172nd edition. Verlag Quelle & Meyer / Lehrmittel-Verlag, Heidelberg / Offenburg 1951, p. 222 .
  2. ^ A b c Johann Andreas Christian Löhr: Non-profit and complete natural history for lovers and teachers. , Volume 3, Die Pflanzen, first section , with 57 illustrations, Verlag G. Fleischer, Leipzig, 1817, p. 332
  3. ↑ a b c d Gustav Hegi: Illustrated Flora of Central Europe , Volume II Part 2, 2nd edition, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 1939, pp. 286–288
  4. ↑ a b c d e Allium ursinum L., bear leek. In: FloraWeb.de.
  5. ↑ a b c Siegmund Seybold (Ed.): Schmeil-Fitschen interactive (CD-Rom), Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002, ISBN 3-494-01327-6
  6. ↑ a b c Max Wichtl (Ed.): Tea drugs and phytopharmaceuticals . 4th edition, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 2002. ISBN 3-8047-1854-X , p. 23f
  7. ↑ Erhard Dörr, Wolfgang Lippert : Flora of the Allgäu and its surroundings. Volume 1, IHW, Eching 2001, ISBN 3-930167-50-6 .
  8. ↑ a b Christian Stolz (2013): Archaeological indicator plants: case studies from the Taunus and northern Schleswig-Holstein. Plants as indicators for archaeological find sites: Case studies from the Taunus Mts. and from the northern part of Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) . - Writings of the Working Group on Regional and Folklore Studies 11: 1-30
  9. ↑ Online query of the Red List for the FRG and all federal states .
  10. ^ Manfred A. Fischer , Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol. 3rd, improved edition. State of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 .
  11. ↑ Wild garlic occurrence ( memento of December 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 154 kB) in the Sarnen region , OW .
  12. ↑ a b c Heinz Ellenberg : Vegetation of Central Europe with the Alps from an ecological point of view. 4th, improved edition. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-8001-3430-6 , pp. 125-129.
  13. ↑ Kurt Kormann: Hoverflies from the area around Karlsruhe (Diptera, Syrphidae) In: Entomofauna - Journal for Entomology, Volume 14, Issue 3, p. 46, 1993.
  14. ↑ Peter Zwetko: The rust mushrooms Austria. Supplement and host-parasite directory to the 2nd edition of the Catalogus Florae Austriae, III. Part, Book 1, Uredinales. (PDF; 1.8 MB).
  15. ^ Allium ursinum at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  16. ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Birkhäuser, Basel / Boston / Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-7643-2390-6 (reprint ISBN 3-937872-16-7 ).
  17. ^ Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants , published by Philipp Cohen Hanover 1882, page 20. Digital online
  18. ↑ From wild garlic capers, wild plants and a book from April 17, 2010, accessed on April 1, 2015.
  19. ↑ a b Risk of confusion: distinguish wild garlic from lily of the valley, autumn crocus and other plants
  20. ↑ Risk of confusion: distinguish wild garlic from lily of the valley, autumn crocus and other plants. Marco Eder, Sebastian Knecht - Stachelbartweg 3 12683 Berlin, accessed on April 20, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Federal Institute for Risk Assessment warns collectors of the fatal consequences of mistaking wild garlic for poisonous plants in the wild
  22. ↑ Wild garlic - be careful not to mix it up with poisonous doppelgangers; AGES - Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety
  23. ↑ Wild garlic - caution protects. Food Inspection and Animal Health Investigation Offices, April 26, 2012, accessed June 29, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Confuse wild garlic and lily of the valley: we show the differences
  25. ↑ Confuse wild garlic and lily of the valley: we show the differences. Advanco GmbH Äußere Schneeberger Straße 6 08056 Zwickau, April 19, 2019, accessed on April 19, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Risk of confusion: distinguish wild garlic from lily of the valley, autumn crocus and other plants. Marco Eder, Sebastian Knecht - Stachelbartweg 3 12683 Berlin, accessed on April 21, 2019 .
  27. ↑ a b c Danuta Sobolewska, Irma Podolak, Justyna Makowska-Wąs (2015): Allium ursinum: botanical, phytochemical and pharmacological overview. Phytochemistry Reviews 14: 81-97. doi: 10.1007 / s11101-013-9334-0
  28. ↑ § 39 BNatSchG
  29. ↑ Picking prohibited? NABU-TV, accessed June 29, 2015 .

Web links

Commons : Wild garlic ( Allium ursinum )  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Wild garlic  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations