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Allium siculum
Also called Honeybells
Honey garlic (Allium siculum) is a bulbous perennial grown for its drooping cream and maroon bell-shaped flowers in late spring. It thrives in cool, moist conditions with partial shade and a dormant summer period.
Allium siculum (syn. Nectaroscordum siculum), known as honey garlic, Sicilian honey lily, Sicilian honey garlic, or Mediterranean bells, is a species of plant in the genus Allium. Native to parts of Europe and the Middle East, the species is grown commercially as an ornamental and culinary herb.
The lachrymatory agent (Z)-butanethial S-oxide, along with several 1-butenyl thiosulfinates have been detected in crushed plant material by mass spectrometry using a DART ion source. (Z)-Butanethial S-oxide (the higher homolog of syn-propanethial-S-oxide, the onion lachrymatory agent) isolated from the plant was shown to be identical to a synthetic sample. The precursor to the active lachrymatory compound, (RS,RC)-(E)-S-(1-butenyl) cysteine S-oxide (homoisoalliin), was isolated from A. siculum, and a closely related species, Allium tripedale, and fully characterized.
A. siculum is unpalatable to grazing animals such as deer and, akin to garlic (Allium sativum), may be toxic to cats and dogs, likely owing to the sulfur compounds discussed above.
Allium siculum is native to Turkey, Iran, Crimea, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern France including Corsica, and Italy (Basilicata, Abruzzo, Umbria, Toscana, Sicily, Sardinia), growing in damp, shady woodland areas.
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
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Allium siculum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
