The genus Allium contains some of my favourite plants. I have previously written about several of them, including Wild Garlic, Garlic Chives and Babington’s Leek. They enhance gardens with their shapely flowers and few meals are complete without at least one domesticated Allium: leeks, onions, shallots and garlic.

At the moment two species of Allium are in flower here in Norwich, and in many other places in the British Isles: the Three-cornered Garlic (a.k.a. Three-cornered Leek), Allium triquetrum and the Few-flowered Garlic (a.k.a.Few-flowered Leek), Allium paradoxum. I’m going to write about both of them, as they are often confused with each other.

Like all of the genus Allium they are members of the family Amaryllidaceae.

Both species have white flowers in spring and leaves that have a mild garlic smell when crushed. Both are edible. Both were introduced to the British Isles and really like it here, to the extent that they are are now listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in England and Wales, which means that it is an offence to plant or otherwise cause them to grow in the wild.

Three-cornered Garlic, Allium triquetrum, growing by the pavement on Unthank Road, Norwich, late March 2020.

Three-corned Garlic, Allium triquetrum

I first noticed Three-corned Garlic, Allium triquetrum, on a trip to Mallorca in March 2004. We spent a very enjoyable day at the famous S’Albufera nature reserve, mainly looking at the rich variety of birds that are found there.

At one point we walked through some woods on the reserve and entered a lovely sea of white flowers. They reminded me of Bluebells but smelt of garlic. What were they? I looked them up in Dr. Elspeth Beckett’s “Illustrated Flora of Mallorca”, which I had just bought at the shop at the Santuari de Lluc (Lluc Sanctuary), and there they were, on Plate 79.

Allium triquetrum is native to south-western Europe (including Mallorca, where it is “common, especially near streams”), north-western Africa, Madeira and the Canary Islands. It has been introduced into Britain, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, the United States (California and Oregon), parts of South America. In Australia it is known as Onion weed or Angled Onion and is becoming a problem in the Yarra Ranges (near Melbourne).

Three-corned Garlic was being cultivated in Britain by 1759 and established itself in the wild by 1849, initially in Guernsey. Since then it has thoroughly naturalised and is becoming increasingly common. It does best in milder areas, as it is not completely hardy in very cold winters. It grows on roadsides, in hedge banks, on field margins and in rough and waste ground.

Here in Norwich, there is a lot of Three-corned Garlic in a garden on Unthank Road, between Park Lane and the city centre, and the plants (such as in my photograph above) have escaped into cracks in the pavement. I also grow it in our garden, where it gently spreading in the dry, rather sandy soil. It has been here for eight years and hasn’t been a problem (yet) – possibly because I hardly have any bare soil for it to seed into.

Three-corned Garlic grows from a bulb. Its leaves can be found from late autumn onwards and it flowers in early spring – the exact timing depends on weather conditions and in some areas it is a very early flowerer. Here in Norwich it was in full flower in late March in last year’s warm spring; this year it is several weeks later. After flowering it dies back (like Wild Garlic) and is dormant through the summer and autumn.

Allium triquetrum spreads in two ways: from bulbils that form underground next to the parent plant and from seeds, which are dispersed by ants (note 1).

Allium triquetrum has a diagnostic green stripe on the inside of its flowers.

Unlike Allium paradoxum, Allium triquetrum does not form clumps of bulbils in its flower heads. This means that it can be controlled – eventually – by cutting back. A quicker result can be obtained by digging out the bulbs, very carefully, with a hand fork. (Don’t add them to the compost heap.)

Look at those stripes! Allium triquetrum (photographed in our garden today).

The Wildflower Finder website, as usual, has a series of excellent photographs of the plant, as does Mike Crew’s online Flora of East Anglia.

Few-flowered Garlic, Allium paradoxum

Few-flowered Garlic, Allium paradoxum, also grows in Norwich. There are small patches of it in Earlham Cemetery and large swathes of it in the Rosary Cemetery, where it has occupied a whole hillside beneath the trees.

Few-flowered Leek, Allium paradoxum, in Rosary Cemetery in Norwich (photographed in April 2018).

Allium paradoxum is native of mountainous regions of Iran, the Caucasus and Turkmenistan but was introduced into Britain in 1823 and had escaped into the wild – near Edinburgh – by 1863. It can be very invasive in disturbed habitats and, like Allium triquetrum, is becoming increasingly common, though with a bias towards the east of the country.  Preferred habitats are river-banks, roadsides, field margins, rough and waste ground and woodland.

Like Allium triquetrum, Allium paradoxum emerges from bulbs from late winter and flowers in spring and dies down after flowering. Its long, linear grass-like leaves are longer and narrower than those of Wild Garlic, but wider than those of Three-corned Garlic.

Like Three-corned Garlic, Few-flowered Garlic spreads by bulbils that form underground next to the parent plant. But it also has a cluster of bulbils in every flower head. These make contact with the ground as the plant dies back and will form new plants. Cutting the plant while it is flowering will cause the bulbils to drop to the ground even sooner, so if you need to remove it or limit its spread, it is best to dig plants out carefully with a hand fork and then crush and dessicate them, as recommended by Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden.

I don’t grow Allium paradoxum and would hesitate to do so, even though it is a pretty plant.

Few-flowered Garlic, Allium paradoxum, in close up, showing its bulbils.

As with Allium triquetrum, I recommend a look at the Wildflower Finder website and Mike Crew’s online Flora of East Anglia for more pictures.

Edible Weeds

Both Three-cornered Garlic and Few-flowered Garlic are good edible plants, with a mild garlic taste.

If you grow Three-cornered Garlic, Wild Food UK suggests uprooting some young plants to use like baby leeks or spring onions and the Plants for a Future website says that bulbs dug up in in early summer after the plant has died down will store for at least six months.

The leaves and flowers of Three-cornered Garlic can be used in salads or the leaves in soups or stews and the more mature bulbs can be used as onion or garlic. The flowers make a good decoration in a salad. I have eaten both flowers and leaves raw. Alys Fowler (“The Thrifty Forager“, Kyle Books, 2011) particularly likes the flowers.

Three-cornered Garlic contains a number of sulphur compounds, such as methiin. These may help to control blood cholesterol.

This Permaculture article has more information on Three-cornered Garlic – including how to avoid picking daffodil leaves by accident.

There is less information on Few-flowered Garlic but it can be used in similar ways. Wild Food UK gives it a brief mention and the Plants For A Future website gives similar suggestions to Three-cornered Garlic.

It should be possible to adapt a recipe for Wild Garlic pesto to use Three-cornered Garlic or Few-flowered Garlic, though the taste is likely to be much milder than with Wild Garlic.

As with all wild plants, make sure you’ve identified them correctly and avoid anything growing on a pavement below dog height or by a busy road.

Bon appetit!

Notes

Note 1 – Distribution of seeds by ants is known as myrmecochory. The term comes from the Greek for “circular dance”, though I think it would sound best said with a Northern Irish accent.  Primroses also spread in this way.