About

Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is a plant belonging to the onion genus and a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. It has a tall, solid, flowering stalk, and flat leaves. The flavor is milder than garlic and can be eaten raw in salads, roasted, or sautéed, but is generally not a substitute for conventional garlic in cooking. It is sometimes confused with solo garlic.

The assignment of "var. ampeloprasum" is dubious because it should refer to a group containing the type that defines A. ampeloprasum. Authors who believe that cultivated elephant garlic is a different variety from the wild one use an alternative assignment, Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense (Mill) Asch. et Graebn.

How to grow it

The mature bulb is broken up into cloves that are large with papery skins, and these are used for both culinary purposes and propagation. Also, much smaller corms with a hard shell grow on the outside of the bulb. Many gardeners often ignore these, but if they are planted, they produce a nonflowering plant in their first year, which has a solid bulb, essentially a single large clove. In their second year, this single clove then, like a normal bulb, divides into many separate cloves. While it may take an extra year, it is desirable to plant these small bulbils (several can be produced by each bulb) and increase the harvest.

Unlike many garlics, elephant garlic does not have to be harvested or divided each year, but can be ignored and left in the ground without much risk of rotting. The plant, if left alone, will spread into a clump with many flowering heads (one stalk and flower from each clove, once the bulb divides). These are often left in flower gardens as an ornament and to discourage pests.

Other Allium plants

South Idaho onion · Abrams' allium · Allium aciphyllum · Tapertip onion · Allium aeginiense · Allium aflatunense · Allium agrigentinum · Allium alabasicum · Allium albotunicatum · Allium alibile · Altai Onion · Allium altissimum