Allium siculum
| Honey garlic | |
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| Allium siculum | |
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| Allium siculum foliage | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Amaryllidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Allioideae |
| Genus: | Allium |
| Species: |
A. siculum
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| Binomial name | |
| Allium siculum |
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| Synonyms[1][2][3] | |
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Synonymy
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Allium siculum, known as honey garlic,[4] Sicilian honey lily, Sicilian honey garlic, or Mediterranean bells, is a European and Turkish species of plants genus Allium. It is native to the regions around the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and grown in other regions as an ornamental and as a culinary herb.[1]
Habitat and Description
Allium siculum is native to Turkey, Crimea, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, southern France including Corsica, and Italy (Basilicata, Abruzzo, Umbria, Toscana, Sicily, Sardinia),[5] growing in damp, shady woods. It has showy clusters of gracefully drooping bell-shaped blossoms produced in May to early June sitting atop a tall green stem, to 1.2 m in height. The florets (blossoms), suspended on long drooping pedicels, are cream colored with a maroon streak down each petal, have white flared tips, and are tinted green at the base. The blossoms are followed by decorative, erect seed pods in late summer. The blue-gray foliage is triangular in cross-section and strongly twisting along the length of the ascending leaves.[6][7] A penetrating, skunky odor is released when the plant is cut.
Taxonomy
Allium siculum is a member of a small subgenus Nectaroscordum of Allium, which consists of only this species and Allium tripedale.[8]
- Subspecies[1]
- Allium siculum subsp. dioscoridis (Sm.) K.Richt. - Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Crimea
- Allium siculum subsp. siculum - France, Italy
Uses
Said to be resistant to deer and other herbivores, Allium siculum is used as a seasoning in Bulgaria[citation needed]. It is also planted in flower gardens because of the showy, drooping blossoms and unusual twisted foliage.
Properties
When Allium siculum is crushed, it gives off a chemical that makes the eyes water, similar to chopping onions. The lachrymatory agent (Z)-butanethial S-oxide, along with several 1-butenyl thiosulfinates are detected 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 lachrymatory compound, (RS,RC)-(E)-S-(1-butenyl) cysteine S-oxide (homoisoalliin), was isolated from homogenates of A. siculum, and a closely related species, Allium tripedale, and fully characterized.[9][10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
- ↑ Plant List, Allium siculum
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, Aglio della Sicilia, Allium siculum
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