Thursday, February 28, 2008

Turf and Landscape Weed: Allium Species - Wild Garlic and Wild Onion

Two Allium species, wild garlic and wild onion, are common weeds in Delaware turfgrass and landscapes. The following is information on these weeds.

Wild garlic (Allium vineale) is a perennial weed that has a strong garlic or onionlike odor when cut. It is one of the first weeds to emerge in early spring. Wild garlic produces long, slender, mostly hollow leaves that are dark green and covered by a waxy substance. Leaves emerge from underground bulblets that are covered by thin, papery scales. Flowers may be present on uncut stems and can be white, pink, or purple.

A closely related species, wild onion (Allium canadense), looks very much like wild garlic. Wild garlic is more common in Delaware and has hollow leaves. Wild onion has flat (not hollow) leaves. Depending on the growth stage and time of year, it may be difficult to distinguish between these two species.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

can you eat wild garlic bulbs at the end of the stem?? can you eat the stem?