{{Short description|Species of plant}} {{redirect|Kurrat|the surname|Kurrat (surname)}} {{Speciesbox | image = A.ampeloprasum 1.jpg | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status = LC | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |last1=Rhodes |first1=L. |last2=Maxted |first2=N. |year=2016 |title=''Allium ampeloprasum'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T172192A19391082 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T172192A19391082.en |access-date=30 May 2026}}</ref> | genus = Allium | parent = Allium subg. Allium | species = ampeloprasum | authority = L. | synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets = true |title=<small>Species synonymy</small> |''Allium adscendens'' <small>Kunth</small> |''Allium albescens'' <small>Guss.</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''babingtonii'' <small>(Borrer) Syme</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''bertolonii'' <small>(De Not.) Nyman</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''bulbiferum'' <small>Syme</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''bulgaricum'' <small>Podp.</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''caudatum'' <small>Pamp.</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' subsp. ''euampeloprasum'' <small>Hayek</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''gasparrinii'' <small>(Guss.) Nyman</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''gracile'' <small>Cavara</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' subsp. ''halleri'' <small>Nyman</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''holmense'' <small>Asch. & Graebn.</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' f. ''holmense'' <small>(Asch. & Graebn.) Holmboe</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' subsp. ''porrum'' <small>(L.) Hayek</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''porrum'' <small>(L.) J.Gay</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''pylium'' <small>(De Not.) Asch. & Graebn.</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' subsp. ''thessalum'' <small>(Boiss.) Nyman</small> |''Allium ampeloprasum'' var. ''wiedemannii'' <small>Regel</small> |''Allium ascendens'' <small>Ten.</small> |''Allium babingtonii'' <small>Borrer</small> |''Allium bertolonii'' <small>De Not.</small> |''Allium byzantinum'' <small>K.Koch</small> |''Allium duriaeanum'' <small>Regel</small> |''Allium durieuanum'' <small>Walp.</small> |''Allium gasparrinii'' <small>Guss.</small> |''Allium halleri'' <small>G.Don</small> |''Allium holmense'' <small>Mill. ex Kunth</small> |''Allium kurrat'' <small>Schweinf. ex K.Krause</small> |''Allium laetum'' <small>Salisb.</small> |''Allium lineare'' <small>Mill.</small> |''Allium porraceum'' <small>Gray</small> |''Allium porrum'' <small>L.</small> |''Allium porrum'' var. ''ampeloprasum'' <small>(L.) Mirb.</small> |''Allium porrum'' subsp. ''euampeloprasum'' <small>Breistr.</small> |''Allium porrum'' var. ''kurrat'' <small>(Schweinf. ex K.Krause) Seregin</small> |''Allium pylium'' <small>De Not.</small> |''Allium scopulicola'' <small>Font Quer</small> |''Allium scorodoprasum'' subsp. ''babingtonii'' <small>(Borrer) Nyman</small> |''Allium spectabile'' <small>De Not.</small> |''Allium syriacum'' <small>Boiss.</small> |''Allium thessalum'' <small>Boiss.</small> |''Porrum amethystinum'' <small>Rchb.</small> |''Porrum ampeloprasum'' <small>(L.) Mill.</small> |''Porrum commune'' <small>Rchb.</small> |''Porrum sativum'' <small>Mill.</small> }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=powo>{{cite POWO|id=332079-2|title=''Allium ampeloprasum'' L.|access-date=}}</ref> }}
'''''Allium ampeloprasum''''' is a member of the onion genus ''Allium''. The wild plant is commonly known as '''wild leek''' or '''broadleaf wild leek'''. Its native range includes southern Europe, southwestern Asia and North Africa, but it has been cultivated and naturalized in many other countries.
''Allium ampeloprasum'' has been differentiated into five cultivated vegetables: leek, elephant garlic, pearl onion, kurrat, and Persian leek.
==Etymology== The specific epithet ''ampeloprasum'' derives from the Greek ''ampelos'' ("vine") and ''prason'' ("leek"), literally meaning "vine-leek" or "leek of the vineyard".<ref>{{cite web |title=Allium ampeloprasum, Wild Leek |url=https://www.first-nature.com/flowers/allium-ampeloprasum.php |website=First Nature |access-date=19 April 2026}}</ref>
== Description == Wild populations produce bulbs up to {{Convert|3|cm|abbr=off|frac=4}} across. Scapes are round in cross-section, each up to {{Convert|180|cm|abbr=on}} tall, bearing an umbel of as many as 500 flowers. Flowers are urn-shaped, up to {{Convert|6|mm|abbr=off|frac=8}} across; tepals white, pink or red; anthers yellow or purple; pollen yellow.<ref name="laksdf909wer9">{{Cite eFloras |1 |242101330 |Allium ampeloprasum |family=Liliaceae |first1=Dale W. |last=McNeal Jr. |first2=T. D. |last2=Jacobsen}}</ref><ref>Gleason, H. A. & A.J. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (ed. 2) i–910. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx.</ref>
== Distribution and habitat == Allium ampeloprasum is an ecologically diverse species complex and the progenitor of several key cultivated varieties, including the common leek (''A. porrum L. sensu stricto''), characterized by its robust "pseudostem," and the ''A. kurrat Schweinf'', which is grown for its slender leaves. Despite their physical differences, these forms remain closely related to, and fully interfertile with, the wild tetraploid A. ampeloprasum, which is widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zohary |first1=Daniel |last2=Hopf |first2=Maria |last3=Weiss |first3=Ehud |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978–0–19–954906–1 |page=171}}</ref>
The plant's native range is southern Europe to southwestern Asia and North Africa,<ref name="powo"/> including all countries bordering the Black, Adriatic, and Mediterranean Seas from Portugal to Egypt to Romania. In Russia and Ukraine, it is considered invasive except in Crimea, where it is native. It is also native to Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Iraq.
It is considered naturalized in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the Baltic States, Belarus, the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Australia (all states except Queensland and Tasmania), Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the United States (southeastern region plus California, New York State, Ohio and Illinois), Galápagos, and Argentina.<ref name="powo" /><ref name="laksdf909wer9" /><ref>{{BONAP|genus=Allium|species=ampeloprasum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite eFloras| 2| 200027520 |Allium porrum |volume=24| last1=Xu| first1=Jiemei| first2=Rudolf V. |last2=Kamelin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Allium ampeloprasum [Aglio porraccio] - Flora Italiana |url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/index1.php?scientific-name=allium+ampeloprasum |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=luirig.altervista.org}}</ref>
The species may have been introduced to Britain by prehistoric people, where its habitat consists of rocky places near the coast in south-west England and Wales.<ref name="pfof">{{PFAF}}</ref><ref>CHRISTOPHER D. PRESTON, DAVID A. PEARMAN, ALLAN R. HALL (2004) Archaeophytes in Britain Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 145 (3), 257–294 {{doi|10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00284.x}}, p. 264</ref>
== Conservation == The plant is protected by law in Israel<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Shmida |author-first=Avi |title=MAPA's Dictionary of Plants and Flowers in Israel |publisher=MAPA |year=2005 |location=Tel-Aviv |pages=237 |language=he |oclc=716569354}}</ref> as well as York County, Virginia, where it is commonly known as the "Yorktown onion".<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Yorktown Onion |url=http://www.yorkcounty.gov/CountyGovernment/BoardofSupervisors/BoardsandCommissions/HistoricalCommittee/YCHC/YorktownOnion.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811233135/http://www.yorkcounty.gov/CountyGovernment/BoardofSupervisors/BoardsandCommissions/HistoricalCommittee/YCHC/YorktownOnion.aspx |archive-date=2016-08-11 |access-date= |website=www.yorkcounty.gov}}</ref>
== Cultivation == ''Allium ampeloprasum'' is the source of several vegetables, most notably: * Leek (var. ''porrum'') * Elephant garlic or great-headed garlic (var. ''ampeloprasum'') * Pearl onion (var. ''sectivum'') * Kurrat (var. ''kurrat''),<ref name="pfof" /><ref name="prota">Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.</ref> Egyptian leek or salad leek. This variety has small bulbs, and primarily the leaves are eaten. * Persian leek (''A. ampeloprasum'' ssp. ''persicum''). A cultivated allium native to the Middle East and Iran, grown for culinary purposes and called ''tareh'' in Persian. The linear green leaves have a mild onion flavor and are eaten raw, either alone, or in food combinations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mousavi|first1=Amir|last2=Kashi|first2=Abedolkarim|last3=Davoodi|first3=Daryoush|last4=Shariatpanahi|first4=Mohammad Sanei|title=Characterization of an Allium Cultivated in Iran: The Persian Leek|date=2006|jstor=20794599|journal=Belgian Journal of Botany|volume=139|issue=1|pages=115–123}}</ref> Some sources (especially archeological ones) refer to each of these as a separate species,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zohary |first1=Daniel |title=Domestication of plants in the Old World: the origin and spread of domesticated plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin |last2=Hopf |first2=Maria |last3=Weiss |first3=Ehud |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199549061 |edition=4th |location=Oxford |page=195 |quote=The more robust varieties grown for their thick ‘pseudostem’ (''A. porrum'' L. sensu stricto) and the slender leafy forms (sometimes referred to as ''A. kurrat'' Schweinf.), are all closely related to, and inter-fertile with, the wild and weedy tetraploid forms of wild ''Allium ampeloprasum'' L., which is widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin.}}</ref> but they are now united as ''A. ampeloprasum''.
== In culture == The plant is mentioned as ''shaḥm el-arḍ'' in an 11th-century Mishnah commentary.<ref>{{Citation |last=Nathan ben Abraham |title=The Six Orders of the Mishnah: with the Commentaries of the Rishonim |volume=1 |page=s.v. ''Sheviit'', ch. 7 |year=1955 |editor-last=Sachs |editor-first=Mordecai Yehudah Leib |contribution=Perush Shishah Sidrei Mishnah – A Commentary on the Six Orders of the Mishnah |place=Jerusalem |publisher=El ha-Meqorot |language=he |oclc=233403923 |author-link=Nathan ben Abraham I}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery> Image:Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum).jpg|Spathe unfurling to reveal buds Image:Elephant Garlic (Allium ampeloprasum) 2.jpg|Spathe fully unfurled File:Allium ampeloprasum MHNT.BOT.2006.46.12.jpg|Allium ampeloprasum - MHNT </gallery>
== See also == * ''Allium tricoccum'' * Ramsons
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20160716120151/http://database.prota.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=QBE_QUERY&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdatabase.prota.org%2Fsearch.htm&TN=PROTAB~1&QB0=AND&QF0=Species+Code&QI0=Allium+ampeloprasum&RF=Webdisplay PROTAbase on ''Allium ampeloprasum''] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927230422/http://guernsey.net/~cdavid/botany/files/allium%20ampeloprasum/index.html ''Allium ampeloprasum'' in Guernsey] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131112234857/http://flora.huji.ac.il/browse.asp?action=specie&specie=ALLAMP Flora of Israel Online]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q148995}} {{allium}}
ampeloprasum Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of temperate Asia Category:Flora of North Africa Category:Garden plants Category:Edible plants Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus